by Adam Figman
Before the NBA Draft, nobody questioned DeMarcus Cousins‘ talent—the concern was whether or not he’d be able to keep his head on straight.
Last night, it appears, he did not.
Via NBA FanHouse:
Kings rookie forward DeMarcus Cousins was removed from team plane bound for Phoenix after an altercation with teammate Donte Greene, according to two sources close to the organization.
The incident, which was first reported by FanHouse, immediately followed a loss to Oklahoma City on Saturday night. Cousins, who had overcome early-season struggles of the performance and personality variety recently, is expected to be suspended for at least one game. Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie did not immediately return a call for comment.
According to the sources, Cousins (whose postgame interview can be seen here) was furious at the last play in which Tyreke Evans missed a three-pointer in the final seconds of regulation that would have won the game. Cousins, who had been calling for the ball in the post in the final possession, watched angrily as Greene inbounded the ball to Evans for the final shot.
After the buzzer, he ran the length of the court to catch up to Evans and Greene and was letting his opinions be known as he blew by them to enter the locker room. According to the sources, Greene and Cousins began exchanging words inside the locker room. The situation then escalated, with both players taking swings at each other before they were separated.
From the sounds of it, there seems to be a lot of tension between Evans and Cousins, both of whom are considered to be huge parts of the Kings’ future. The idea of having to split up the two, especially so quickly and with so much still ahead of each, is pretty absurd, and it’d be a shame and an extremely rash move if Sacramento’s front office were to proceed in that direction.
There’s little to like about this situation, but, hopefully, everyone involved (especially DMC) can take this as a learning experience and move forward.
