SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — DeMarcus Cousins will debut Friday at the center of the basketball universe, playing in front of a celebrity-sprinkled audience in Los Angeles and a worldwide television audience that nonetheless can’t believe he signed last summer with the back-to-back winner Golden State Warriors.
To get ready for this second after missing nearly a year with a torn left Achilles’ rib, the four-time all-star center traveled to a funky outpost around the central California coast whose downtown is flanked by surf stores, bong emporiums and health studios. There, he discovered the Kaiser Permanente Arena, also a no-frills, 2,500-seat gym surrounded by the San Lorenzo River, a car shop and a Walgreens. The arena was built in 2012 and, according to local lore, went in just 78 days. Contrary to the half-billion-dollar palaces of professional teams, it cost approximately $10 million and after housed a women’s roller derby squad. For the past two and a half decades, the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s G League affiliate, have performed with a packed house. “It’s a mini-Oracle Arena,” said guard Damion Lee, who has logged time for the Golden State and Santa Cruz this season.
Lee’s title is contained on a banner in the building’s main entry: “Santa Cruz Warriors: NBA Call-Ups. ” The nondescript sign is a badge of honour for its minor-league franchise and a nude reminder for its players: The G League is meant to be a launchpad, not a destination. For the undrafted prospects and journeymen who live in a nearby hotel for its six-month season, the road to the NBA runs through here.
In the past several years, however, G League teams have hosted high profile NBA players returning from injury such as Cousins, whose $18.1 million deal in 2017-18 was significantly more than 500 times greater than the typical G League salary of $35,000. These “rehab assignments” are a union of convenience, pairing NBA players coming off injuries with pro-level competition that can mimic the speed and physicality of their big league with no taxing actual NBA players during the middle of the year.
This increase in rehabilitation assignments is a very useful barometer for its G League’s growth. Since its founding in 2001, the G League has expanded from eight groups to 27 teams, and formalized the connections between NBA teams and their own minor-league affiliates. As opposed to sharing far-flung affiliates along with other groups as they did in the past, most NBA teams now operate their particular G League teams in one-on-one connections. This tendency has enabled NBA teams higher control over style of drama on the court, sales and promotion away from the court, and even the location of the franchises. Meanwhile, the NBA has expanded roster sizes and added new participant designations, such as two-way contract players who will shuttle back and forth between the NBA and G League, to encourage greater investment from the minor-league item. The G League will enlarge to 28 teams from 2019-20 and hopes to have 30 affiliates to coincide with the 30 NBA franchises within another 18 months.
As the G League has added and relocated franchises, the convenience variable has sharply increased. The Santa Cruz Warriors, who jumped from North Dakota from 2012, are a prime example. Pitching a rehabilitation stint in Bismarck in mid-December? Fantastic luck. Coordinating a 75-minute driveway from Oakland? No issue.
Proximity has mattered for other franchises, too. The Los Angeles Lakers delegated guard Rajon Rondo for their South Bay online, which plays home games at the team’s El Segundo practice centre. The Chicago Bulls have placed Zach LaVine and Jabari Parker with their Windy City online, which plays just 25 minutes away from downtown. After the Los Angeles Clippers delivered Blake Griffin to practice with their Agua Caliente affiliate past seasonthey hand-delivered the competition for their celebrity by earning the G League players from Ontario, California, to clinic at their Playa Vista training centre.
Based on data provided from the G League, the average distance between an NBA team and its own G League affiliate season is 142 kilometers — down sharply from 452 kilometers in 2013-14. That geographical shift has resulted in a corresponding spike in rehabilitation assignments, that have been common practice for Major League Baseball teams and their farm clubs. By 2013-14 to 2016-17, a mean of five NBA players each year were shipped to their own G League affiliates to assist in their own recoveries. Over the past 18 months, 19 players have undertaken rehabilitation assignments, for example six all-stars.
“Rehab assignments are just another value-add for its G League,” stated Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who began his tenure since G League president Monday. “You may use the G League to develop your young players and trainers, but you might also give players like Cousins the chance to acquire exercise and match time. We’ve noticed Tony Parker and Brandon Knight do it, too. ”
Location is one-half of the equation; dedication is the other. The Warriors have purposefully merged their NBA and G League surgeries whenever possible, utilizing similar tactics, play calls and terminology. Santa Cruz trainer Aaron Miles joined the Warriors team during the playoffs and training camp, Santa Cruz’s strength trainers are in contact with their NBA counterparts, and the Warriors employ a coach who’s dedicated to tackling the franchise’s two-way deal players.
The G League affiliate also mimics Golden State’s advertising strategies, utilizing the identical blue and yellow colour scheme and handing out the exact bobbleheads and replica championship rings to Santa Cruz lovers that the Warriors distribute at Oracle Arena.
This in depth organizational “synergy,” since Santa Cruz President Chris Murphy termed ithas enabled Santa Cruz to run at a profit and cultivate 1,200 year ticket holders. Additionally, it perfectly place the table for Cousins’ rehabilitation stint, which occurred over three sessions in December during a quieter stretch of Santa Cruz’s program.
“Up at Golden State, DeMarcus was doing a lot of two-on-two things,” ” Miles explained. “[Warriors trainer ] Steve Kerr told me he wanted DeMarcus to get down and up. Golden State clinics, however they don’t do a lot of scrimmaging, it’s more fine information. We wanted to give Cousins exactly what he desired. It was big for him to just play since it’s been a year or so because he was in an NBA game. ”
Cousins, who ripped his Achilles’ limb in January 2018 as a part of the New Orleans Pelicans, went via full-court, five-on-five scrimmages that featured elongated halves to check his conditioning. The Warriors sent Rick Celebrini, their director of sports medicine, to monitor his performance and members of the electronic team to capture highlights for their website. Since Golden State tapes and assesses all of Santa Cruz’s practices and games using the PlaySight and Second Spectrum video services, Kerr’s management had immediate and complete access to Cousins’ workouts.
Though it’s enticing to picture Cousins barnstorming via Santa Cruz, putting waste into the overmatched competition in front of gawking audiences, that’s not exactly what happened. Insteadhe educated his younger brother, Jaleel, a 6-10 center for Santa Cruz, and impressed his temporary allies with his passing abilities and exterior shooting. The clinics occurred in a near-empty fitness center and received little media attention. “It was business as normal,” Murphy explained. “We might have sold tens of thousands of tickets to the practice, however, it was pretty cool to have a player of his caliber have a very comfortable experience. ”
Many of the players knew Cousins from Warriors training camp, which lightened the mood and made his look feel routine. “It wasn’t like our staff is a bunch of high school children in awe,” Jaleel Cousins explained. “Santa Cruz is a professional setting, and this is an expert thing. DeMarcus was trash-talking, trying to motivate guys. Like with your buddies playing backyard ball, you discuss (expletive). He explained, ‘D-upsaid You can’t guard me. ’ ”
Miles and his players saw Cousins moving easily as he began to work his way back into game form. He tested his leg in various scenarios: placing screens, rolling to the back, popping to the three-point lineup and pivoting through traffic. Miles’ eyes lit up as he described how Kerr may utilize Cousins: by conducting split cuts the huge guy to utilize his passing abilities, and by ditching it to him in the post to set up an inside-out game for the Warriors’ shooters.
After Santa Cruz huddled following clinic, Cousins addressed the group, praising their collective ability and offering encouragement. “He stated to keep grinding and that he thanked everybody for playing five-on-five and doing additional for him,” ” Jaleel Cousins explained. “His message was, ‘You guys might have stated that you have a match coming up and you also wished to focus on loved ones, but I appreciate you letting me join you and allow me return to where I was. ’ ”
Even though the Warriors chose to not delegate Cousins to play in a G League match, his Santa Cruz teammates still dreamed of the possibility. Guard Kendrick Nunn laughed at the idea of Cousins intimidating G League opponents, while forward Kevin Young imagined Miles force-feeding Cousins for “crazy numbers. ”
To Abdur-Rahim, the concept is no joke. In the end, New York Knicks guard Courtney Lee logged 32 minutes in a December game with their Westchester affiliate while on a rehabilitation assignment, yet another sign that minor-league stigma is fading. “I will see NBA players playing in G League games becoming a trend,” stated Abdur-Rahim. “It requires just 1 celebrity who wants to perform and get his or her rhythm. Then it would turn commonplace. The construction and the tools support it at this time. ”
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Without doubt, Cousins’ yield represents just one of the critical mileposts of the 2018-19 season. Kerr plans to launch him at center, providing Golden State a beginning five written entirely of all-stars in the year ago (the last group with such a luxury was that the 1975-76 Boston Celtics). If Cousins matches in and seems healthy, the Warriors are overwhelming favorites to claim their third consecutive title. If there are lumps or downsides, the mercurial Cousins — known for his discussions with officials along with occasional emotional outbursts — will turn into a lightning rod.
Santa Cruz’s players noted Cousins won’t need to take as heavy of a weight with the Warriors because he gasped together with all the Sacramento Kings and Pelicans before in his profession. Lee explained that Cousins’ continued trips to Santa Cruz showed “how meek of a man he’s,” and Miles talked positively of Cousins’ demeanor and direction through his visits.
Jaleel Cousins stated his brother will be “in a great place mentally” since the Warriors have “awarded him a lot of downtime” during his rehab and since his comeback signifies a chance to rewrite his reputation. “He’s mingled with all the group and meshed with them perfectly,” Jaleel explained. “He’s not that the creature everybody attempts to force him out to be. ”
The Santa Cruz Warriors, like the rest of the basketball world, will be tuning into Cousins’ first match, but only after they attempt to win against the Salt Lake City Stars in front of the 68th straight home sellout. “I’ve performed in Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Argentina and Iceland,” Young mused. “In Argentinawe had seven fans from the stands at the same match. Some places, basketball isn’t everything. It ’s much like a family and we attempt to mimic the Warriors business in every manner. All of us need one another to succeed. ”
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