DeMarcus Cousins found himself in another controversy this week as a video emerged of him confronting Sacramento Bee columnist Andy Furillo. The Kings’ center was none too pleased with the Bee’s coverage of a confrontation involving Cousins and teammate Matt Barnes, especially as it included anecdotes about the big man’s brother.
Cousins created waves in the NBA community as equal amounts of people came to his defense as those who faulted him for another blow up.
That probably doesn’t matter to Cousins, however. The big man is likely more concerned with how his team has responded, namely with the support received from head coach Dave Joerger.
Joerger did criticize Cousins for the way the situation was handled but called the Bee’s coverage of the center “ridiculous” and largely defended his star player. Cousins later told Marc J. Spears of the Undefeated what that meant to him:
“I appreciate it. I think he understands where I’m coming from,” Cousins told The Undefeated. “I don’t really think it had anything to do with him trying to show that he has his player’s back. I generally think he understands where I’m coming from.”
“Of course, he dealt with a similar situation with the same people,” Cousins said. “He gets it. I respect him for that. I respect him for speaking out. He doesn’t have to. He went about it the right way. He spoke out on it. I respect him for that.”
This is really telling of Boogie’s career in Sacramento. The only other time he has felt this amount of trust toward his head coach was with Mike Malone who was shockingly fired in the midst of a decent season for the Kings.
Having a coach he can trust is huge for someone like DeMarcus Cousins whose temper has often put him in tough situations accentuated by Kings’ management’s ineptitude. This is a good step forward for him and the organization.
