DeMarcus Cousins has seen enough. After previously dismissing Luka Dončić’s MVP case in favor of Cade Cunningham, Jaylen Brown, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the former All-Star has done a complete about-face. He’s definitely not shy about admitting it.
DeMarcus Cousins Reverses Course on Luka Dončić’s MVP Case
It started with a post on X, where Cousins kept it simple. “Yea I was wrong asf!! Luka 1st team without a doubt and also time to have some real convo about MVP this season cause sheeeessshh!! This version of the Lakers is a scary team come playoffs!
The reversal from Cousins is notable because it was not long ago that he was making the opposite case. On the “Run It Back” podcast, he had said plainly: “I can’t put him over Cade Cunningham. I can’t put him over Jaylen Brown, obviously Shai.”
Now, speaking on the same show, his tune had changed entirely. “As of lately, yes, I would put Luka as a First Team All-NBA guy, just based on this stretch of basketball, the drastic improvement with the team,” Cousins said. “And on top of that, they’re winning games on a consistent basis in a very tough Western Conference.”
He went even further. “As of right now, talking about Luka, I would say he’s the best player in the NBA.”
Luka Doncic is the best player in the NBA right now, according to Boogie Cousins 🥇
“Definitely should be talked about as a top-candidate for MVP.”@MichelleDBeadle | @boogiecousins | @ChandlerParsons | @TeamLou23 pic.twitter.com/59RtQcHiJu
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) March 23, 2026
The stretch of basketball that prompted the reversal has been genuinely extraordinary. Over the Los Angeles Lakers’ nine-game winning streak, Dončić is averaging 40.0 points on nearly 50% shooting from the field and 40.3% from three. All of this is combined with 8.4 rebounds and 7.4 assists.
Within that run, he has posted a 51-point game against the Chicago Bulls, a 40-point outing against the Houston Rockets, and a season-high 60 points against the Miami Heat. He has scored 30 or more points in every game during the streak and is averaging 37.2 points per game in March alone.
Cousins Calls Out NBA Over Luka Dončić’s Rescinded Technical Foul
The same episode of “Run It Back” also saw Cousins weigh in on a separate but related Dončić storyline. The NBA rescinded a technical foul called on Dončić during the Lakers’ win over the Orlando Magic over the weekend. It was a decision that prevented what would have been his 16th technical of the season and an automatic one-game suspension.
Cousins took issue not with Dončić himself, but with the league’s inconsistency in applying these decisions.
“My issue isn’t with Luka. The issue is more so with how the league picks and chooses — or decides who they want to cater to and who they don’t,” Cousins said. “If this is Draymond Green, it is not getting rescinded. That is more so my issue with this. If you’re willing to look at this as a case-by-case scenario, I think that should be across the board with every player. That’s my only issue… it’s a lot of inconsistencies in what you’re willing to accept and what you’re not.”
The technical stemmed from an exchange between Dončić and Magic center Goga Bitadze, with Dončić claiming postgame that Bitadze had made comments about his family during the game. For obvious reasons, Bitadze denied it all.
The NBA ultimately ruled in Dončić’s favor, clearing him to play in Monday’s 113-110 loss to the Detroit Pistons, which snapped the Lakers’ nine-game winning streak. Cousins’ broader point about the inconsistency in how the league handles similar situations for different players resonated well beyond the specific incident.
