DeMarcus Cousins
You make yourself be whatever the hell you want to be, at the end of the day.
Nobody can tell you what your destiny is.
I grew up in a rough area, went to an all-black school, public school.
Believe in yourself.
I don't like to be proved wrong.
I actually prefer teammates that have emotions. It means you care, compared to a guy that's kind of just nonchalant and goes about it like it doesn't matter. So I want guys that care. I want guys that show they care.
So you know, the people that do know me, they know I can be very stubborn.
I'm a Mobile, Alabama kid.
We in a nasty business, at times. I don't even say that in a good or bad way. It's just no place to get too emotional.
When it was clear I couldn't stay in New Orleans, I went out and created what would end up being the best opportunity for myself. I asked my agent to set up a call with the Warriors. I knew they could use a big.
I'm grateful for every opportunity. I learned the hard way.
I've kind of been doubted my whole life. I use that as fuel to continue to push every single day.
The body can take you wherever your mind goes. If I can do it in my mind, I think my body will follow.
I love it here in New Orleans.
There are ignorant individuals in every city.
If you was somewhere walking down the street and somebody says something crazy to you, you're going to react. So just because it's a basketball event doesn't mean those emotions go out the door or us being a human being goes out the door. It's the same thing.
I've got a real problem when I know something is wrong or I feel something is wrong, I'm going to speak about it. I get it from my mother.
Sometimes I let some of the small things take over. It can be a simple thing, like a call going the wrong way, and it takes me all off.
I'm not going to sit here and say I'm innocent, because I've done things. But to get the reputation that I've got, I don't think I've done enough. I don't have a criminal record.
Coming into the league, everyone said I was going to be fat, I was the next Oliver Miller. I had all these red flags. I just feel I was never given a fair chance coming in.
I'm an emotional guy. It's as simple as that.
This is a frustrating sport. There are a lot of emotions involved.
You are either with me or you're not.
I'm a good guy.
I didn't have the best Christmases, but my mom and family did what they could.
It's hard getting the rhythm when you're not seeing the ball go through the basket.
My main purpose every night is to win a game.
I never in a million years would have thought I would end up with Golden State.
Who knew I was blowing my Achilles?
I love the game. I think that's obvious, and I'm very passionate in what I do.
I love my job. If I have a chance to play against some of the top talent in the world or whether it's against guys around the corner, I'm going to play.
If you judge me only by my profession, you don't know me at all. Those people who do that? They'll never know me.
I don't do things to be rewarded. I help people because it's the right thing to do.
If I started smiling all the time, people would say, 'DeMarcus must not care anymore.'
I've never been a guy who plays the political game. It's either right or wrong; that's how I was raised.
A lot of the mistakes I made were my fault.
Some of what I get, I deserve; I do some dumb stuff sometimes. But I do not deserve the perception that I have.
When they say I'm a bad teammate and that I got a coach fired, that irritates the hell out of me. The biggest thing for me is to always have respect for my teammates. And then the whole Westphal thing - the man got himself fired. He was losing before I got here.
I don't want to be Boogie. I just wanna be DeMarcus.
I want my family and myself to be comfortable wherever I am at the time, and just be able to relax and kind of let my hair down.
I just control what I control.
I'm a guy with a big heart who cares about people.
I'm human. I mean, I'm not always happy.
I'm goofy. I like to have fun. I'm always joking around.
Health is probably the No. 1 thing that gets overlooked for a player.
I've been the type to just get up and go or I'm finding something to do, I'm on some type of grind every single day.
People don't like when people are straight forward. They like things to be sugar coated. They like to beat around the bush. I'm not that type of person.
I have my family, my loved ones and they love me for who I am.
The competitive spirit of basketball is slowly leaking out. Taking pride in one-on-one defense is slowly leaking out. It's more about selling calls and flopping.