National Basketball Association

Over and Back: Boogie Cousins, Anthony Davis and great players on bad teams

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:59 p.m. ET

Fansided, Jason Mann/Fansided

Rarely have players as great as Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins been stuck on such bad teams. We take a look at how other comparable players fared early on in their careers in the latest episode of the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast.

We look how this season’s New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings compare to other teams that struggled despite having an amazing superstar, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Los Angeles Lakers in 1976 and Charles Barkley’s Philadelphia 76ers in 1988. We also discuss players in the same class as Davis and Cousins and how they fared in their first seven seasons, from players who were part of dynasties (George Mikan, Larry Bird, Julius Erving and Tim Duncan), who won a championship (Abdul-Jabbar, Bob Pettit and Dan Issel), who made the Finals (Wilt Chamberlain, Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon and Moses Malone), and who made it deep into the playoffs but failed to make a Finals (David Robinson, Karl Malone and Alonzo Mourning).

Listen: The history of NBA games with four or more overtimes

We also compare Cousins and Davis to players who didn’t make it far into the playoffs early in their careers, including Chris Webber, Spencer Haywood, Bob McAdoo, Bob Lanier, Walt Bellamy, Kevin Garnett and Elton Brand. And finally we look at where DeMarcus Cousins stands among the top NBA players who have never reached the playoffs in their careers.