DeMarcus Cousins is always in the public eye. The face of a franchise often seen as a joke in the public eye, Cousins’ comments and attitude will always be seen as something more.
The Sacramento Kings center saw himself in the middle of a mini-controversy on draft night. Just as the Kings made the surprising decision to draft Georgios Papagiannis, Cousins took to Twitter:
Lord give me the strength ??
— DeMarcus Cousins (@boogiecousins) June 24, 2016
Cousins later elaborated on the tweet, saying he was talking about a hot yoga class. Obviously, no one bought that explanation. So, Cousins explained it again, this time to Michael Lee of The Vertical:
“I really was,” Cousins told The Vertical about attending class on the night of the draft. “I really was. I’ll admit it was bad timing.”
Cousins then took the time to complain about the negative perception of his comments:
“I do my job,” Cousins said. “I don’t really understand what’s going on. I just control what I control. I let them do their job.
“I’m trying to figure out what I said wrong. Of course, they’ve twisted it into something negative, in some type of way,” Cousins told The Vertical. “I’m clueless. It’s to the point now, where I don’t want to say anything about any situation. Then I’ll be the bad guy about that as well. Anything I do. Anything I do, it’s … it’s whatever, man.”
Cousins certainly has a point. His reactions and comments are much more likely to be taken seriously by the general NBA fanbase and critics. Some of that is on him, however.
As he admitted (and if the tweet really was about yoga), then it was very poor timing, something he should be more aware of. Additionally, saying “I don’t understand what’s going on” in regards to the team’s front office is not going to make for a great soundbite. Cousins may not mean anything other than not involving himself in front office decisions. But taken out of context that quote does not paint a pretty picture.
At the end of the day, Cousins is asking for respect, and he wants it for his on-court production, as he told Lee:
“I don’t even know what an expert is any more,” Cousins told The Vertical about the all-NBA votes. “I mean, I had some guys, didn’t even vote for me, and that’s absurd. It’s a joke. It really is. It’s a popularity contest. It’s the guys who like them, it’s the guys they like, the guys they get to see on a nightly basis. I still don’t feel I get the respect I deserve. But I’m going to keep grinding. I’m going to stick with it.”
Cousins is certainly one of the best centers in the league. There is no denying that. But he has not had considerable team success and although that’s not entirely on him, it is generally an important aspect of awards voting.
That all said, DeMarcus Cousins having a chip on his shoulder is scary. As long as he uses that as the correct form of motivation, we could be seeing another special season from him.
