When DeMarcus Cousins awoke on Friday morning, the imaginary ticker floating above his head read, “Days since last NBA game: 357.”
When he went to bed on Friday evening, that number was finally reset.
January 18 had been circled in red ink for a while, and when the day finally came, Cousins acted the way any human would act after their passion was cruelly stolen from them for nearly a year. He was giddy. He was nervous. He was relieved. He was vigilant.
And he was comfortable.
At Friday morning’s shootaround, eight hours from his Golden State Warriors debut, Cousins was asked what the first thing that ran through his mind was when he woke up.