My bro DeMarcus Cousins is taking heat from all corners these days. At this point, they are basically picking on him for whatever he does or is perceived to be doing. Let me just say that the DeMarcus I know is way better than his reputation.

I’ve been hooping in China for almost five years now, but I played one season in Sacramento back in 2010-11. I was a 27-year-old NBA rookie at the time and DeMarcus was one of the other first-year players on the team at just 20 along with Hassan Whiteside. I was an undrafted player out of Portland who had spent the previous season in the Israeli League and he was the No. 5 pick out of Kentucky, one of the biggest and most successful programs in the country. I was kind of expecting a guy like that to come with an attitude when dealing with a guy like me who was not a household name, but there was NEVER anything like that with him.

Ever since we were introduced, we’ve been 100 percent with each other. We had a great connection from the very first moment and I can say he’s one of the realest people I’ve ever known. He and his manager Andrew always showed so much love to me. I remember going out to different restaurants with him. DeMarcus being from the south, he took me to soul food spots (made me eat gator once!) and he was such a funny guy to be around all the time.

He’s really cool and genuinely cares for people. Even though we have not been teammates for five years, he’s paid attention to where I was career-wise. When he knew I got the Ukrainian passport, he found it so funny. We eventually met in Bilbao (Spain) during the 2014 World Cup at a Team USA-Ukraine game and he was so amused by the whole thing.

I know he can come across as difficult sometimes and, yeah, he’s had episodes with other teammates. There were indeed some growing pains with him and the team while I was there in Sacramento, but overall he is a great person. I would very much like people to see how he’s off the court most of the time. There’s so much emphasis on the negative things, but people should know about all the things he does off the court in both Sacramento and Mobile, Alabama.

It’s funny how you get all these bad stories about him coming out of Sacramento, but you hear nothing but positive stuff about him when he’s with Coach K and Team USA. It’s like they see who he is there, but not when he’s with the Kings. Hopefully, it all works out in Sacramento. There’s no need for him to change teams, I know he can make it happen there.

As of now, I just feel sorry for my bro. He knows if he needs me, I’m here for him.