Cousins: 'I'm the godfather' of modern big men

Denver Nuggets center DeMarcus Cousins believes he paved the way for the NBA's modern big man movement.

Cousins was asked by Andscape's Marc J. Spears if Nuggets teammate and reigning MVP Nikola Jokic reminds him of a younger version of himself, to which the 31-year-old replied, "Absolutely," but with a caveat.

"Not to take anything away from ... Jokic. He is a one-of-one," Cousins said. "(But) when it comes to these modern-day bigs we see today, that we're praising today, I feel like I'm the godfather."

Jokic, Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid, and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo were all named finalists for this season's NBA's Most Valuable Player award; much like Cousins during his tenure with the Sacramento Kings, they all took ball-dominant roles as the primary playmakers for their squads.

"I know what I've done in this game," Cousins added. "I'm the first big getting triple-doubles. I'm (the) first big shooting threes. I was getting triple-doubles when there (were) two bigs in the paint, when there was a power forward and a center. I've been doing this."

Cousins averaged 21.1 points and 10.8 rebounds in seven seasons with Sacramento. The four-time All-Star has bounced around the league since being traded in 2017 from the Kings to the New Orleans Pelicans, where he tore his Achilles after playing 65 games.

The Nuggets signed the big man in January as a backup to Jokic, reuniting him with bench boss Mike Malone, who coached Cousins in Sacramento. In 31 regular-season games with Denver, Cousins averaged 8.9 points and 5.5 rebounds.