You’d be forgiven if, upon learning four-time All-Star DeMarcus Cousins was set to sign with the Golden State Warriors, winners of three of the last four NBA titles, your knee-jerk, unmediated reaction was something akin to: aw, hell nah! You would not be special in this regard, your take joining an ongoing chorus of complaint and protest on social media. (A conversation esteemed Warriors fan Jacob Greenberg refers to as GrumbleWatch.)
For a team like the Warriors, an organization that already appears to have everything — All-Stars, future Hall of Famers, massive media attention, multiple championships — nabbing Cousins, an extremely talented big man (albeit one recovering from a difficult Achilles injury), for merely the mid-level exception (MLE) of $5.