"When business gets involved, that's when bulls—t gets involved" - Cousins breaks down why European players are surpassing U.S. talent originally appeared on Basketball Network .
DeMarcus Cousins , long seen as one of the NBA's villains due to his brash and hot-headed demeanor, was never a fan favorite, but there were few players in the league at the time who could do what Boogie did on the court. Had DMC landed in a more stable franchise, with a calmer mindset and better injury luck, he could have been right there with Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid in the conversation for best center not just of his era, but of an entire generation.
At just 22 years old, Cousins had already completed his first dominant NBA season, his fourth overall. That year, DeMarcus averaged 22.7 points, 11.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks while shooting 49 percent from the field, all in only 32.4 minutes per game.
Boogie was the center the league had been waiting for. Outside shooting, post moves both back-to-the-basket and face-up, touch around the rim, playmaking instincts, savage strength, agility, ball skills — Cousins had it all.
After a long drought following the golden age of '90s big men, the AAU system finally produced a polished, skilled center. However, as it turned out, neither before nor after Cousins did the AAU system create another big man with truly solid fundamentals.
"I think that's why we're starting to see this turn in young basketball compared to Euro basketball," Cousins said . "It's happening. Their young talent is understanding the game better, they're more fundamental, because like you said, over here in our youth league, it's now become business."
"Obviously, when business gets involved, that's when bullsh—t gets involved. I'm saying AAU is now more business, because the more games you play, obviously, there's more revenue. But at the same time, kids are building more and more bad habits, and they're not really understanding the fundamentals of the game."
Cousins has a point. Forget the bad habits for a moment; even though that's a genuine concern, it's hard to ignore that Team USA currently lacks a true floor general and an old-school center. And that's not a new issue.
European players are taking over the league. The NCAA has essentially become a professional system to attract young global talent through NIL deals, while the NBA is working on launching NBA Europe. American players are becoming increasingly one-dimensional, and that's something the late Kobe Bryant predicted a decade ago when he said European players were more skilled than their U.S. peers.
"AAU basketball. Horrible, terrible AAU basketball. It's stupid," said Bryant. "It doesn't teach our kids how to play the game at all. In America, it's a big problem for us. We're not teaching players how to play all-around basketball. That's why you have Pau [Gasol] and you have Marc [Gasol], and the reason why 90 percent of the [San Antonio] Spurs roster are European players — because they have more skills."
We're amazed when we watch Jokic work his magic on the court because we've become unaccustomed to centers with elite footwork and back-to-the-basket dominance. And that's just part of the problem.
Back to Cousins: From ages 22 to 28, he averaged 25.1 points, 12.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.4 blocks — absolute elite. What could've been, we'll never truly know. Sadly, his career fell victim to injuries like those of Grant Hill or Derrick Rose before him.
The bigger point is that DeMarcus had the talent to rival Nikola and Joel, yet we're talking about a player who hasn't played at the highest level in five years. That brings us to the harsh reality: something is broken in the AAU system. It's clear that things aren't working, and the rest of the world isn't waiting — they're relentlessly catching up and protecting their fundamentals.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 2, 2025, where it first appeared.
