Former NBA superstar DeMarcus Cousins dazzles in FIBA 3x3 World Tour debut in Wuxi 2024

WUXI (China) - With numerous bone-crunching dunks, having bullied his way to the rim with brute force, former NBA superstar DeMarcus Cousins made the paint his personal playground in a spectacular FIBA 3x3 World Tour debut in Wuxi. 

 

The hype was in overdrive for the unveiling of Cousins on the half-court and he didn't disappoint after single-handedly leading hometown heroes Wuxi WenLv (CHN) on a semi-final run. 

 

The insane numbers speak for themselves with Cousins, affectionately known worldwide as 'Boogie', Cousins topped the scoring charts with 46 points in four games and finished second in player-value (50.4). 

Cousins recently joined Wuxi WenLv having played basketball in China and he was lured to the team partly due to a long-time connection with Wuxi star Andrew Kelly.

Wuxi had not made it out of Day One in their previous three World Tour stops, including less than a fortnight ago in Shanghai, but were completely transformed with their 6ft.10in (2.08m) monster patrolling the paint. 

Dwarfing undersized opponents, Cousins was smartly fed the ball by his giddy teammates almost at will. It was almost rinse and repeat as the big fella would stick his hands up and the ball would lob to him.

He would then either bulldoze his way to the rim with sheer strength or occasionally show off his athleticism and spin past defenders to the rack.

Cousins embarrassed numerous rim protectors, including Swiss star Westher Molteni whose crown was torn off his head after getting posterized. It was an insane play that went viral on social media and lapped up by the highly popular Cousins' legion of fans around the planet. 

 

It appeared like a fairytale was unfolding with Wuxi within touching distance of a title as they were whipped into a frenzy by their fans, who had fallen under the spell of their new new fan favorite.

Pitted against his compatriots Princeton (USA) in the quarters, Cousins made them look like they were in kindergarten as he finished with a triple-five of 10 points, 6 rebounds and 7 highlights. 

But Wuxi's stirring run ended to powerhouse Amsterdam (NED), who nullified Boogie's interior domination by shooting the lights out. It was a fascinating battle with Wuxi playing through Cousins in the paint, while Amsterdam decided to almost strictly restrict their offense to the perimeter. 

Cousins was unstoppable once again with an insane 15 of his team's 19 points, but he was exposed on defense by a smart Amsterdam team making him expend energy. 

Despite Cousins scoring at will, the maths worked in Amsterdam's favor as their 10 triples to 1 lifted them to a thrilling 21-19 dub. 

 

Arvin Slagter's two-point Maurice Lacroix Buzzer Beater sucked the life out of the crowd and ended Cousins' stirring World Tour debut. But this is just the first steps of what might just be a wild run in 3x3. 

Given his pedigree as a four-time NBA All-Star and Olympic gold medalist, there has never been a player of Cousins' stature on the World Tour. 

And we've never seen a player of his size and strength on the half-court, which he used to good use connecting on 26 of 31 from ones. Bruised defenders are still hurting from the punishment they endured having to attempt to guard this tanked up dude. 

 

In an ominous warning for opponents, Cousins can improve considerably as he familiarizes himself to the tough game of 3x3. He  does possess a shooter's touch for a player his size, but was ice cold from deep.

He will be a scoring threat like we've never seen before on the half-court if he becomes an inside-outside threat. 

The fast and furious 10-minute sprint also tested his conditioning, with Cousins appearing gassed by the end of the semi-final game. There is no hiding on defense in 3x3 as Cousins found the hard way against a ruthless Amsterdam, who tired him out with their slick passing around the arc. 

Cousins will need to improve his fitness if he's to become a defensive menace around the half-court. 

If he does all of that then Cousins might just have found his calling as 3x3 welcomes its biggest ever name with open arms. 

 

FIBA