Two weeks ago, when news surfaced that DeMarcus Cousins was signing with the Warriors, critics of the NBA seized the chance to bemoan the rich getting richer. Their frustration was understandable: More than three months before its season opener, Golden State had quashed even the faintest hope of something resembling competitive balance.
All of that hysteria and hand-wringing, however, didn’t make the sight of Cousins posing Thursday morning with his new No. 0 Warriors jersey any less strange. It was visual proof that Golden State had done the seemingly impossible, adding one of the most dominant big men in the world to a team fresh off its third NBA title in four years.