Another day, another technical foul for DeMarcus Cousins. Two, in fact.
And the first technical foul Boogie picked up on Monday night in Sacramento is drawing plenty of conversation.
Chicago Bulls forward Taj Gibson was unhappy a foul wasn’t called in the third quarter, and he was called for a technical foul after arguing the call. Bulls point guard Rajon Rondo then joined Gibson in yelling at the ref, and Chicago assistant coach Jim Boylen came out to break up the heated situation.
But Boylen then made contact with Cousins and Sacramento’s Matt Barnes, and Cousins didn’t appreciate that.
Watch Boogie shove the Bulls’ assistant:
Bulls' Taj Gibson gets technical foul; Kings' DeMarcus Cousins and Matt Barnes make contact with Bulls assistant coach during aftermath pic.twitter.com/bVjp4feRiA
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) February 7, 2017
WTH is going on here? DeMarcus Cousins shoves Bulls assistant coach. Jim Boylen. pic.twitter.com/QKKKllF0li
— ✶ Ⓜ️𝕒𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕤 ▶️ ✶ (@_MarcusD2_) February 7, 2017
Cousins was called for a technical foul, for his 15th of the year. And 16 technical fouls for an NBA player result in an automatic one-game suspension.
Well, Cousins would pick up that 16th technical foul… with just 1.1 seconds remaining in the game. And with the Kings trailing the Bulls by four, so the game was basically over.
https://youtu.be/3mM917IWdsM
So Cousins ties it, and-one, misses the free throw. Wade scores, Cousins goes for a 3, gets fouled, no-call, flips out, T’d up. NOT DONE 1/2
— CBS Sports NBA (@CBSSportsNBA) February 7, 2017
Game is over, and Cousins flips out over the no-call, picks up a tech, is tossed with 1.1 seconds, and so he’ll be suspended next game. https://t.co/IKk4pgaKpk
— CBS Sports NBA (@CBSSportsNBA) February 7, 2017
So, Cousins will be suspended for the Kings’ game against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, all for a technical foul with the game (basically) over. This all happened on the same day Kings general manager Vlade Divac told ESPN that the team will not trade Cousins before the Feb. 23 trade deadline:
“We’re not trading DeMarcus,” Divac told ESPN. “We hope he’s here for a long time.”
There’s certainly no doubting Cousins’ talent and production — he’s averaging 27.9 points and 10.7 rebounds per game — but the issues with his behavior don’t seem to be going away, and the Kings will need his maturity to grow if he’s to be their franchise player going forward.
