DeMarcus Cousins suffered a leg injury during a practice session for Team USA.
According to Sports Illustrated, the Sacramento Kings center went down during the scrimmage and limped off the court on August 14, 2014. Indiana Pacers center Anthony Davis fell on Cousins as the two fought over a loose ball. Cousins seemed to have injured his right leg and was brought to the trainer's table.
A precautionary MRI "revealed no structural damage to his right knee," SB Nation wrote. Still, he will not be playing in the team's exhibition game on Saturday against Brazil, according to Team USA president Jerry Colangelo, in a USA Today report.
"I can't believe he would. Even if he's 100 percent OK, he's going to have to rest a little bit and get treatment," Colangelo said.
It is not yet known whether the injury will permanently keep him out of Team USA. The good news is, Cousins has already assured his fans that he's "fine" via a Twitter post.
Just less than two weeks earlier, Paul George broke his leg in a team scrimmage in Las Vegas and had to sit out the entire 2014-2015 NBA season. USA Today notes that before Thursday's game, Colangelo talked to the team about the swingman's injury and said that the whole team was prepared to move on. The intensity of the team seemed to be just as it were before George acquired his injury according to coach Mike Krzyzewski.
Davis said, "I feel bad. I hope he's fine because he really wants to be here. We were both just hustling and I dove on his leg. So I hope he's fine."
According to ESPN, Team USA's lineup continues to get thinner with the withdrawal of Blake Griffin, Kevin Love and Kevin Durant. Paul George is officially out and the team further made some cuts which included John Wall.
The big men left include Anthony Davis, Mason Plumlee, Andre Drummond and Kenneth Faried, according to Sporting News. All of them are quite new to the international scene and have no more than three years of experience in the NBA. After Durant withdrew, the team added Rudy Gay to play power forward.
Cousins is still battling for the spot against Plumlee and experts have mixed feedbacks as to who of the two would make the team.
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