Whilst the twenty-five year old DeMarcus Cousins is fully concentrated on winning an Olympic gold medal in Rio alongside his teammate Carmelo Anthony, a much younger Cousins would have been elated just to be on the court with him.

The former Kentucky big man grew up as a huge fan of Anthony, who has now become a mentor to him. Both stars played a part in Team USA’s exhibition game at the T-Mobile Arena Friday night, in a 111-74 win over Argentina.

“It’s dope,” Cousins told The Sacramento Bee’s Jason Jones. “I enjoy being around him. He’s got so much experience in this game. It’s well known that I’ve been a Melo fan my whole life. Just to be able to work with him daily is going to help me become a better player. I’m excited for it.”

Anthony is pleased that he gets this to bond with Cousins, making it known that he feels Boogie is misunderstood.

“I’m getting a chance to really get to know him as a person – forget about basketball,” Anthony told Jones. “To be honest, I think there’s a big misconception about DeMarcus. I think sometimes, it’s situational things. Does he need to relax a little bit sometimes? I told him that. Over the years, I’ve seen him get better and better with that. We all kind of go through that.”

Cousins has previously mentioned that he admired the games of Shaquille O’Neal and Pau Gasol, but it seems that he now has the chance to learn from the best he could ask for.

“I’m a fan of any player with skill,” Cousins said. “Melo being my favorite player of all time, I’m trying to pick his brain every second I can.”

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