Houston Rockets forward PJ Tucker lamented the injury to Los Angeles Lakers big man DeMarcus Cousins, who suffered a torn ACL during a rec game in Las Vegas on Monday, later to discover the full extent of the damage upon examination when he came back to Los Angeles.
Cousins has now suffered three major injuries in the span of 19 months, first dealing with a torn Achilles on January of 2018, only to come back for 30 regular season games and a playoff game before suffering a torn quad and making a miraculous comeback for the NBA Finals.
“It hurt, man, breaks my heart, man,” said Tucker, who's taking part on Team USA's practices ahead of the FIBA 2019 World Cup, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic. “DeMarcus is such a good guy. He’s one of the best bigs I’ve ever played against — ever. He’s amazing. And to see somebody like that get hurt, fight to come back, get in shape, lose weight, do all this stuff, and then get hurt again, man, it’s heartbreaking, honestly.”
Tucker is plenty aware that Cousins will be a tough man to replace, considering JaVale McGee remains as the only true center in the roster. The Lakers have given indications that they don't plan to play newcomer Anthony Davis at center more than necessary.
The three-and-D cog noted the Lakers might need to make some changes in the near future.
“That’s something they’re going to have to figure out, man, because that’s an important position,” said Tucker.” “Especially going into the end of games, everybody goes small at the end of games. Everybody goes small, and then having (Cousins) be a big that can shoot it, that can handle, and all the things that he brings, that’s a tough position (to be in).”
Cousins' torn ACL diagnosis was followed with thoughts and prayers by many of his NBA counterparts, who realize the devastating nature these lower-body injuries can have in his career.
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