Photo by Aislinn Ritchie on Flickr
After the buzzer, Cousins let his opinion be known to Greene as he blew by him in the tunnel leading into the locker room. According to the sources, Greene and Cousins began exchanging words inside the locker room. The situation then escalated when Cousins accused Greene of being too “scared” of making what Cousins thought was the right play and with both players taking swings at each other before they were separated.
Petrie, according to the sources, made the decision to remove Cousins from the plane and decided to wait until Sunday to determine how to proceed. It was a decision that was not popular with at least one member of the team, as one of the sources said veteran swingman Francisco Garcia argued vehemently for Cousins to remain on the plane before relenting when he was told his fight was futile.
via Kings Remove DeMarcus Cousins From Team Plane Following Altercation — NBA FanHouse.
I refuse to believe Cousins is not salvageable.
There’s simply no reason to suggest that’s the case. Â I’m significantly concerned about the assumptions made by people about Cousins. That because he argues with his coach that he’s a troublemaker. That because he fights with teammates that he must have off-the-court-issues. That because he gets technicals that he must be a bad seed, whatever that is. There’s a huge gap between being unable or unwilling to control your behavior in relation to basketball, and having issues with authority, discipline, or social behavior. Cousins is an angry, emotional, immature brat. There’s no pretense of crime, there. The similarities to Sheed are frightening, but he doesn’t have Sheed’s outright disrespect of social structure. There’s no reason to suspect he’ll get busted for pot, or guns, or any other nonsense. There’s nothing to suggest he won’t either, since those problems, if you consider them problems, aren’t exactly accompanied by some sort of tattoo. But the point is simply that Cousins isn’t a bad kid. He’s just not. He’s just really, really immature and very, very stupid.
That said, there’s an issue here. Let’s begin in the most reasonable place, with Zill.
I’ll say this about Cousins, in addition to the thoughts above: you ever have a fire — on your barbecue grill, in your flambe pan, when you’re camping, in the fireplace — that refuses to go out? No amount of water or dirt or blowing will put it out. The attempts to put it out, in fact, make it stronger. That’s DeMarcus. All this discipline this year … it hasn’t done one little thing to put out that fire. It’s burning hotter than ever. That fire can rip through the Kings and destroy the team. Or it can be focused on the opponent, and it can scorch a path to glory for Sacramento. Which will it be?
via DeMarcus Cousins Suspended After Reported Fisticuffs With Donte Greene – Sactown Royalty.
My big concern? The Kings have not established a hierarchy. There’s not a ladder. There’s no “this is Reke’s team.” If they have, Cousins has failed to accept that, and if so, the structure may not be in place to contain him. Cousins has to consider whatever his role on the team is to be an immutable law, like gravity, or the continuing existence of daytime soap operas. You don’t question where or when “Days of Our Lives” starts or ends. You just pick up in the middle and go. That’s what Cousins needs, to know without a doubt that he is either first and foremost or second fiddle. Right now, he obviously believes he is first and foremost, and that Evans is not inherently his superior in terms of floor dominance. If you give Cousins such a vacuum, he’s going to fill it. It’s inevitable, like death or a Ryan Adams’ B-Side collection.
I’m not saying that the two can’t reconcile, nor that they can’t share the spotlight. It’s wholly possible for them to have a bonding moment over the summer and grow into one another. Teammates will eventually stop hating Cousins because most of them won’t be around in Sacramento as long as Cousins. No offense, but only Reke and Cousins really matter on that team. They’re the only elements in play. So if the rest of the team thinks Cousins is an entitled, bratty jackass that needs to shut up, it doesn’t really matter. If Cousins thinks Evans is an overrated thorn in his side, however, that’s a problem. It takes two for the Coexistence Tango, and should Cousins keep up this path of demanding to be No.1 in all situations, the result will be disastrous should the Kings side with Evans. That’s an untenable scenario.
The other issue in play is pretty simple. You can’t trade a player who could be a franchise cornerstone and who would be a ROY candidate in the absence of the Blakocalypse and who also just got into a fistfight with a teammate and had to be removed from the team plane. You’re pretty much Andy to the other team’s Dwight in that situation. It’s one thing with Rip Hamilton, since the Pistons don’t care about equal value. But they can’t give away Cousins without getting massive return. A trade is simply not an option, I don’t care how obnoxious he is.
Fans of teams like Philly and Minnesota will be smug in saying how they dodged a bullet with Cousins. But there’s no way of knowing if under more structure in Philadelphia, he would have thrived, or as the sole superstar in Minnesota (which would of course meant burying Love resulting an early season trade making everyone happier, by the way) he wouldn’t be more comfortable. The Kings were in the best position to draft Cousins, but were also in the worst position to draft Cousins.
This should serve as yet another sign that perhaps we should regard the draft less as an exercise in talent discernment and more as the very hand of fate, screwing with us.