December has been a really weird month for DeMarcus Cousins. From the nightclub incident that he was involved in with his Kings teammate Matt Barnes to the incident involving him trying to intimidate a reporter for publishing a story that mentioned a separate nightclub incident involving his brother, Cousins has been at a center of a handful of strange stories lately. And believe it or not, his life managed to get even weirder on Tuesday night during a Kings game against the Trail Blazers.
Statistically, Cousins actually played one of his best games of the entire season. He scored 55 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and helped lead Sacramento to a 126-121 win over Portland. But those stats only tell half the story.
Things took a turn for the worst for Cousins with 35 seconds left in the game after he got fouled by Mason Plumlee. After the play, Cousins appeared to turn towards the Blazers bench and say something to the Portland reserves before spitting or throwing his mouthguard at them. It earned him his second technical foul of the game and got him ejected.
Cousins responded to the technical foul by tearing at his jersey and sprinting back to the Kings’ locker room. But upon further review, the game’s referees ruled that Cousins did not actually spit or throw his mouthguard, so they rescinded the technical they gave to him and brought him back out onto the court to finish the game.
His weird night didn’t end there. After the game ended and the Kings walked away with a win, Cousins spoke with CSN California on the court and provided them with a really intense interview that featured him ripping the refs for issuing him a technical foul in the first place. "It’s ridiculous," he said. "It’s obvious what’s being done out here. It’s on a nightly basis. I hope the world can see now what’s really going on out here 'cause it’s getting ridiculous. It’s really ridiculous."
Cousins also ripped Meyers Leonard and the Blazers’ other big men during his rant, and towards the end of his interview, it sounded like CSN California cut off his mic:
That wasn’t actually the case. After the interview, CSN California sideline reporter Kayte Christensen revealed that there was an ongoing mic/battery issue that resulted in Cousins’ mic shutting off:
But Cousins didn’t stop there. He also spoke with reporters in the locker room after the game and attempted to explain what happened during the final 35 seconds of the contest to them. "I was caught up in the moment of what I was going to tear up in the locker room, and they called me back, they rushed me back," he said. "They told me I had to come shoot the free throw. So I tried to refocus and whatever. That was weird. That was the weirdest thing."
We’d sure say so. Cousins also told reporters that he didn’t mean to throw his mouthguard at the Blazers bench. "I saw the replay, so I can see why people could be mad, but I was talking to the bench and it came out," he said. "I’d never spit on anyone. I’m not like that."
NBA referee Brian Forte revealed why he initially threw Cousins out of the game while speaking with a pool reporter:
But the Blazers didn’t seem to buy into Cousins’ story about his mouthguard accidentally flying out in their direction. Leonard, in particular, was agitated by how the game ended.
"He’s a very skilled player, had a very good game, but his antics are over the top," Leonard said when he was asked about Cousins. "He’s disrespectful, out of line; I mean, the list of words could go on…I don’t know that he spit his mouthpiece at me. But his mouthpiece came out of his mouth when he was screaming and yelling at me, and it was right next to me."
Seriously, can this month get any stranger for Cousins? There are still 10 days left in it, so stay tuned.
