© Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
The Warriors already boasted arguably the greatest quartet — Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green— in NBA history. Adding DeMarcus Cousins to round that lineup into a quintet puts Golden State in unprecedented territory, making for some mind-boggling possibilities.
Together, those five players combined for 109 points per game last year. Take out Green, and the quartet combined for 98 points. For reference, the Warriors led the league with 110.4 points in 2017-18.
Last season, Cousins was well on his way to the best all-around season of his career, until he suffered an Achilles injury in January, ending his season at 48 games. He averaged 25.2 points (ninth in the NBA) and 12.9 rebounds (third in the NBA). His 1.6 blocks ranked tied for ninth, and his 1.6 steals were tied for 16th.
Cousins became one of eight players in history to average at least 25 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists in a season.
Last season, Cousins became one of 1 of 8 players to average 25 PPG, 10 RPG & 5 APG in a season (Westbrook x 2, Barkley, Bird, Abdul-Jabbar, Chamberlain x 2, Robertson x 3, Baylor) https://t.co/VSvaeTHAcj
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 3, 2018
Since the Warriors hired Steve Kerr as head coach prior to the 2014 season, he never had a player who averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds in a season. Cousins has done that seven consecutive years.
A player with those accolades rarely switches teams.
According to @EliasSports, Cousins will be the 6th player to average 25 PPG and 10 RPG and then change teams in the following offseason pic.twitter.com/dX7zL6YO3m
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 3, 2018
Cousins’ best career game came on Jan. 22, 2018 against the Chicago Bulls. He poured in 44 points, 24 rebounds, and 10 assists in the Pelicans’ 132-128 double-overtime win, a performance that placed him in rare company.
DeMarcus Cousins has the 10th 40-point, 20-rebound, 10-assist game in NBA history.
Wilt Chamberlain (6), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1), Elgin Baylor (1), Oscar Robertson (1) are the others
Via @EliasSports pic.twitter.com/xW6IkhXgZd
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 23, 2018
Cousins will join Curry and Durant, who both averaged 26.4 points last year, to form the most prolific trio in NBA history.
According to @EliasSports, the Warriors will be the first team in NBA history to have 3 players who averaged 25 PPG the year before (Cousins, Curry, Durant).
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 3, 2018
The Warriors now have 3 of the top 6 scorers in the NBA over the last 3 seasons. pic.twitter.com/CM3C7IPrDg
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 3, 2018
Each of Golden State’s five 2018 All-Stars has made at least two All-NBA teams in his career.
The 1975-76 Boston Celtics are the only other team that had five All-Stars from the previous season. Back then, though, the NBA had only 18 teams, compared to today’s 30, making the Warriors’ quintet that much more amazing.
The last team to be able to put five players on the floor who were All-Stars in the previous season? Boston in 1975-76, according to @EliasSports
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 3, 2018
And another couple statistics to portray the power balance in today’s NBA.
There are 14 players who have been selected as an All-Star in each of the last 3 seasons. Five of them are now on the Warriors. No other team has more than 2 (Raptors, Thunder).
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 3, 2018
combined All-NBA selections since 2014-15:
Warriors’ eventual starting five (Steph/Klay/KD/Dray/Boogie): 13
all current Eastern Conference players: 11
— Dan Favale (@danfavale) July 3, 2018
Bottomline: these Warriors, by the numbers, are historically great. On paper, they have the best five-player assemblage of all-time.
Time will only tell whether the Cousins addition will translate to a three-peat and fourth championship in five seasons.
