The emotion Draymond Green felt when he heard former Warriors teammate DeMarcus Cousins had torn his left ACL likely is the same emotion you felt Thursday morning.
"Really just sadness," Green told ESPN's Marc J. Spears.
Cousins signed a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason, and he was looking to bounce back after he ruptured Achilles in Feb. 2018 and tore a quad muscle in Game 2 of the Warriors' first-round NBA playoff series against the Clippers in April.
Instead, Cousins is looking at missing a full season as he recovers from another devastating injury.
"One of my goals coming into this season was for DeMarcus to just destroy everybody," Green told Spears. "And come back and show how great of a player he really is and get what I think he deserves. Obviously to have this injury ... I'm really at a loss for words about it. It's one that really hurt me for sure."
As Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Thursday, the NBA is a small community. Green and Cousins are brothers. Just last week, the two players, along with Wizards guard John Wall and Milwaukee's Eric Bledsoe, crashed a pick-up basketball game in the Bahamas.
"I saw DeMarcus last week, looking very slim [and] in shape," Green told Spears. "I said, 'Wow, you're like Kentucky Boogie!' Just to see the work that he's been putting in and obviously to have this injury, like ... like what's next? You go through that same process again, eventually it becomes tedious. Obviously wishing him all the best, and [I will] offer all the support that I can."
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Cousins made it back from both the Achilles and quad injuries, but he's got a long road ahead of him now. Three serious leg injuries in 18 months is crushing. But Green believes Cousins' background will help him overcome this battle.
"He made it out of Mobile, Alabama," Green said. "The NBA is tough. It's very tough to get to. It's very tough to stay in. But he made it out of Mobile, Alabama. If he can do that, he can do anything."
