Years before, critics said that big men in the National Basketball Association are already dead. But this year, NBA big men have shown they can still dominate the game from every facet, thus, the rise of demand for them, two of which are DeMarcus Cousins of the Sacramento Kings and Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans.
With the continuous struggle of the Kings in the league, talks of trading Cousins have never stopped. Sacramento may be on the run for the last playoff spot in the tough Western Conference behind the 26-year-old but his antics on and off the court have overshadowed his magnificent play.
Recently, he confronted Sacramento Bee columnist Andy Furillo inside the Kings locker room and berated him for including Cousins' brother in his story. Against the Portland Trail Blazers on Dec. 20, Cousins spit his mouthpiece towards the opponent's bench after scoring an and-one. His shenanigans have earned him a reputation around the league and it is necessary to move him to another team before the Kings implode, according to CBS Sports.
Davis, meanwhile, is already in his fifth NBA season but has only been in the playoffs once before getting swept by the Golden State Warriors in 2015. The Pelicans are nowhere to be found in the Western Conference playoff race as they reside at 11th place and there surely be a point that the former Most Valuable Player candidate got frustrated with the lack of success his team is having.
The NBA trade deadline is only two months away from happening. According to ESPN, the Pelicans are on a long, much-parsed game of chess that leads into the third NBA contract of Davis with the new veteran player exception that is included in the latest collective bargaining agreement between the league and the National Basketball Players Association.
Watch the video below to see the last time both bigmen faced each other: