Former NBA players Dwight Howard, DeMarcus Cousins and Quinn Cook are to play together for the Taiwan Mustangs at The Asian Tournament, a newly formed league, starting next month.
Howard, who is now part owner of the Mustangs after playing with the Taoyuan Leopards in the T1 League during the 2022-2023 season, said during a videoconference on Wednesday that he would return to the court in Taiwan with the Mustangs, and his former teammates Cook and Cousins would join him.
The eight-time NBA All-Star had previously said on social media that he has become one of many shareholders in the new league, and a player and part owner of the Mustangs.
Photo: CNA
He said that he would be recruiting other NBA stars to play in Taiwan.
He said in the post that Cook would join him at the Mustangs and on Wednesday he confirmed that Cousins, who led the Taiwan Beer Leopards to the 2023-2024 T1 League championship, would also be part of the team.
Howard and Cook were part of the 2019-2020 Los Angeles Lakers championship squad, and Cousins also signed to play on the team, but his season was derailed after he tore his left anterior cruciate ligament in an off-season pickup game in August 2019.
The Asian Tournament follows the Asian Basketball League (ABL) as the latest attempt to create a Pan-Asian basketball league.
The ABL was launched in 2009, but it did not survive the travel restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Taipei round of games for The Asian Tournament are to be held from July 26 to Aug. 1 at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium, with tickets to go on sale at noon tomorrow.
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