Former Los Angeles Lakers big man Dwight Howard put former NBA center DeMarcus Cousins on the hot seat when discussing Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James.
Cousins was praising James, 39, for his play, saying that the four-time champion is “doing s— that’s unheard of.”
“The motherf—– averaging 25 as a 40-year-old,” Cousins said.
Howard quickly interjected, asking Cousins a question he’d refuse to answer.
“You think it’s steroids?” Howard asked.
Cousins quickly declined to answer, saying he “ain’t gon’ get into that.”
Howard, who won a title with James in Los Angeles during the 2019-20 season, then revealed that he was just joking with the question about steroids. It’s certainly funny to see Howard attempt to trip Cousins up when talking about the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
James, a four-time MVP, recently led Team USA to a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, showing once again why he’s one of the greatest players to ever play basketball.
Even though he’s going to turn 40 during the 2024-25 season, James showed no sign of slowing down his game in the 2023-24 season, averaging 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game while shooting 54.0 percent from the field and 41.0 percent from deep in the regular season.
His 3-point percentage was the highest of his 21-year career, a testament to James’ ability to continue improving even though he’s already had a Hall of Fame caliber career.
Not only did James have a strong 2023-24 regular season, but he found another gear in the playoffs as well. The four-time NBA Finals MVP averaged 27.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game across five games against the Denver Nuggets.
The Lakers didn’t make it past the first round of the playoffs last season, but it wasn’t due to James’ lack of production. After opting out of his deal with the Lakers this offseason, James returned to the franchise on a two-year deal (the second season is a player option).
Both Howard and Cousins were able to compete with and against James (Cousins was also on the 2019-20 Lakers for a period of time but did not play that season due to a torn ACL).
It’s pretty amazing that even James’ peers can’t believe what he is able to accomplish at this stage in his storied career.
