Feels like the 2020 Purple and Gold vibes all over again in Taiwan.
A mini LakeShow reunion is happening in Taiwan.
2020 NBA champion Dwight Howard revealed that former Los Angeles Lakers teammates DeMarcus Cousins and Quinn Cook will also play for the Taiwan Mustangs in The Asian Tournament (TAT).
“Proud to announce we got our first commits @boogiecousins & @qcook323 to play in @theasiantournament and they all champions too I told yall we reuniting the 2020 lakers & going global ! This year we going all over Asia but like I said we trying to take this league everywhere & I got my guy @mu_reaaal scouting,” D-12 said in the post.
Howard made the announcement this Wednesday in a press conference.
“I want basketball to really grow around the world, and I want Taiwan to be the birthplace of something that big.”
The former NBA All-Star left the US-based league in 2022 to join the Taoyuan Leopards in the T1 League. There, he averaged 23.2 points, 16.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.2 blocked shots--quickly becoming a fan favorite.
In his lone season there, the 38-year-old became the league MVP, All-Star Game MVP, a T1 League All-Defensive First Team member and rebounding leader just to name a few honors.
The multi-time Defensive Player of the Year also suit up for Strong Group Athletics, a squad which took home the silver medal in the 33rd Dubai International Basketball Tournament
[ALSO READ: PH represent: Dwight Howard sums up Strong Group experience after heartbreaking final loss in Dubai]
Cook and Cousins expressed their excitement in playing alongside their former teammate and in Taiwan.
“I’m so excited. Dwight’s always been a brother to me. He really showed me how to be a pro. For him to take the call and want me to play alongside him again, it meant the world and I’m so excited to be part of this great opportunity,” Cook said.
“I’m excited to be back. I enjoyed my time there. The fans are incredible. I embraced that love, the genuineness. It makes my job easier knowing that I’m playing with passion. I love my time in Taiwan,” Cousins said.
All three in D-12, Cook, and Boogie were part of the 2020 LA Lakers championship team that defeated the Miami Heat in five games in the NBA Finals mostly remembered during the COVID-19 pandemic era. Cousins couldn’t play that season due to a torn ACL injury.
This year, the Lakers won the inaugural NBA-In Season Tournament before falling in five games to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
These players also no a stranger to playing on a foreign land.
Cousins was crowned as the Finals MVP after steering the Taiwan Beer Leopards to the 2024 T1 League title thanks to 4-0 sweep of the Taipei Taishin Mars.
Cook has been in several overseas teams in Russia, China, and Puerto Rico since he was last seen in the NBA in the 2020-21 season.
Howard and Co. will play with former PBA mentor and current Mustangs head coach Chris Gavina. They will compete alongside nine-time PBA champion and former Finals MVP Alex Cabagnot, who shared his experience in the press conference.