After a lengthy spell on the sidelines following surgery on his injured left Achilles, DeMarcus Cousins will be making his Golden State Warriors debut within the next week or so. As it turns out, one man who helped the 28-year-old on his road to recovery is NBA legend Dominique Wilkins.

Wilkins — who himself rose back to glory after a career-threatening Achilles tendon tear — recently spoke with Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle and shared his opinion on Cousins and his comeback after mentoring the big man throughout his rehab process:

“People always doubt people first before they give people credit for how quickly they can come back from those types of injuries, but it depends on the person,” Wilkins said. “I think DeMarcus is a guy who’s put the work in and is going to be fine.”

When Cousins suffered the season-ending Achilles tear last season, there were some who doubted his ability to reclaim his spot as one of the most dominating big men in the game today. An Achilles injury is indeed frightening, especially for big men, so in truth, these doubts were somewhat warranted.

However, it appears that Cousins, with the help of guys like Wilkins, is set to prove all his doubters wrong. Recent reports have claimed that the four-time All-Star is looking at Jan. 18 against the Los Angeles Clippers as his potential return date, so we won't need to wait very long before we see how things pan out for Cousins and the Dubs.