DeMarcus Cousins on Vogel-Lakers Rumor: Man Didn’t Even Make It to the F--king Flight

DeMarcus Cousins was surprised by how the Los Angeles Lakers handled the firing of head coach Frank Vogel.

"The man didn’t even make it to the f--king flight!" Cousins said, per Bill Oram of The Athletic. "The NBA getting brutal, ain’t it?"

The Denver Nuggets big man scored 17 points in his team's 146-141 overtime home loss to the Lakers on Sunday. Shortly after the final buzzer, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Vogel had coached his final game with the team.

Vogel said after the contest that he hadn't been contacted by anyone in the front office.

"I haven't been told s--t, and I'm going to enjoy tonight's game," he told reporters. 

Cousins was initially on the Lakers roster in 2019-20, when Vogel led the team to an NBA title in his first year as coach, but he didn't see any action before being waived as he recovered from a torn ACL. The squad had missed the playoffs in each of the last six seasons.

While L.A. made the postseason last campaign, it suffered a first-round playoff exit and missed the playoffs this season with a 33-49 record. Even with an overtime win in the final game, Vogel will be looking for a new job after the news is official as soon as Monday, per Woj.

Of course, Cousins likely understands the brutality of the NBA as much as anyone. The four-time All-Star was one of the top bigs in the league before a ruptured Achilles derailed his career in 2018, ending a potentially elite partnership with Anthony Davis with the New Orleans Pelicans.

Injuries have been a story for the veteran since, and he has played for four different teams over the last two years since missing all of 2019-20.

Cousins' 31 regular-season games with the Nuggets represents his longest tenure with any team since leaving the Pelicans in 2018.