Cousins at it again.. Could face suspension

[mgent]

I read the column and watched the video. I'm not going to defend Cousins' use of profanity or his bullying, but I do think it's silly that some people are clamoring about censorship without, apparently, realizing that Cousins is also exercising one of his rights—freedom of speech.

He's well within his rights to be upset at someone's coverage of him, even if you think he shouldn't be upset; and he's well within his rights to say (or not say) what he wants to say (or not say). The NBA's rules don't specify the details of a player's media "availability," they say only that he has to be available. If he's there in the locker room (which he has been), that fulfills his requirements. If certain people want him to be forced to give more (which is itself an ethics violation, in my opinion), it would have to be done through the collective bargaining process.

And yes, I still want him on the Celtics.

No one is saying he shouldn't speak his mind, but there's a way mature adults should conduct themselves. The reporter is half his size and appears to be more than twice his age, he could've easily pulled him aside and had a private conversation with him to let him know how he felt. Approaching him like that was completely unnecessary and it was clear he was trying to intimidate him.

Players do this.  They are confrontational.  They compete for a living.  Melo once waited in front of the Celtics bus to confront KG.  Intimidation is part of the package.  Look at Perk's face.

You can't just put your intimidation hat on when it's time to play basketball and then leave it in the locker-room after the game.  It's something these guys have been working on their whole lives, and there's no way Cousins or Garnett would be that intense on the court if they weren't as intense as they are off the court.

Throw in family, and tempers can heat up real quickly.  Cousins didn't flip out because the guy gave him a bad report.  What the guy was doing had no impact on basketball at all, it was directly personal toward Cousins.  He's not running for president, he's trying to make a living.  His brother could have his career/life ruined or something over the exposure.

I'm not excusing Cousins, I'm just trying to explain that it's not "easy" to "pull him aside and have a private conversation with him to let him know how he felt"  unless Cousins is in cold blood (which clearly I don't think he was).  Pretty sure Cousins already knows that's not how mature adults are supposed to act, he just couldn't control himself.

[walker834]

Not everyone is like that.  Even players.  The media is too.   Some of these people are overgrown babies and actually create drama themselves just to stir stuff up and aren't living in reality.  The media loves to control things and think they are helping these people grow up or something to some standard they have set. In general  a lot of these people aren't living in the real world. They thrive off drama.

Not every player is like that though. Some are more grounded than others. Some aren't the brighest tacks in the shed. Neither is the media.

It's sad some of it because a lot of these people dont' really care for one another.  They are using people instead of having actual sense.

Some of them are actually living in a fantasy world and just like to stir things up.  They are kids.

social media and all of that has created a lot of that even moreso.  They are detached in a lot of ways.

[mainevent]

I read the column and watched the video. I'm not going to defend Cousins' use of profanity or his bullying, but I do think it's silly that some people are clamoring about censorship without, apparently, realizing that Cousins is also exercising one of his rights—freedom of speech.

He's well within his rights to be upset at someone's coverage of him, even if you think he shouldn't be upset; and he's well within his rights to say (or not say) what he wants to say (or not say). The NBA's rules don't specify the details of a player's media "availability," they say only that he has to be available. If he's there in the locker room (which he has been), that fulfills his requirements. If certain people want him to be forced to give more (which is itself an ethics violation, in my opinion), it would have to be done through the collective bargaining process.

And yes, I still want him on the Celtics.

No one is saying he shouldn't speak his mind, but there's a way mature adults should conduct themselves. The reporter is half his size and appears to be more than twice his age, he could've easily pulled him aside and had a private conversation with him to let him know how he felt. Approaching him like that was completely unnecessary and it was clear he was trying to intimidate him.

^ This ^ - Freedom of speech is not the issue, it's his lack of control ON the court as well as OFF the court.  Sac is not a cohesive unit and since Boogie has been there, he hasn't shown one bit of ability to LEAD any of those teams.  Scoring a bunch of points, pulling down a bunch of rebounds is great, but for the money he'll command, is he a LEADER of men or a liability on the floor and in the locker room with his "me against the world" attitude?  Will he be willing to fall in line and do what's necessary to make this team better, which also mean when things don't go his way can he keep it together? How long will it be before he starts calling out teammates? 

Long story short he's the best option we could get TALENT wise and the worst option we could get PERSONALITY wise. 

[mgent]

Not everyone is like that.  Even players.  The media is too.   Some of these people are overgrown babies and actually create drama themselves just to stir stuff up and aren't living in reality.  The media loves to control things and think they are helping these people grow up or something to some standard they have set. In general  a lot of these people aren't living in the real world. They thrive off drama.

Not every player is like that though. Some are more grounded than others. Some aren't the brighest tacks in the shed. Neither is the media.

It's sad some of it because a lot of these people dont' really care for one another.  They are using people instead of having actual sense.

Some of them are actually living in a fantasy world and just like to stir things up.  They are kids.

social media and all of that has created a lot of that even moreso.  They are detached in a lot of ways.

Cousins isn't Justin Bieber peeing in mop buckets and racing his car around the neighborhood.

He's not a media star who seeks/thrives on drama, he's a professional athlete with an anger problem.  Not the first and won't be the last, people need to get over it.

Realize that social media makes things like this bigger than they are.  Stuff like that's been going on in every league throughout the years, we just hear about it more now.

[Cman]

Haha, just watched the video.  Now I love him more than ever. 

A team who once had a guy like KG should be the last to put up "attitude" or "knucklehead" as a reason not to trade for Cousins.  Unless he pulled a gun and shoot somebody, you do everything you can to have him in green.

Yep. I'd love to have him in green.
It would take a lot though.
Would probably start with Brooklyn 2018 and Memphis picks.

[TrueFan]

Not everyone is like that.  Even players.  The media is too.   Some of these people are overgrown babies and actually create drama themselves just to stir stuff up and aren't living in reality.  The media loves to control things and think they are helping these people grow up or something to some standard they have set. In general  a lot of these people aren't living in the real world. They thrive off drama.

Not every player is like that though. Some are more grounded than others. Some aren't the brighest tacks in the shed. Neither is the media.

It's sad some of it because a lot of these people dont' really care for one another.  They are using people instead of having actual sense.

Some of them are actually living in a fantasy world and just like to stir things up.  They are kids.

social media and all of that has created a lot of that even moreso.  They are detached in a lot of ways.

Cousins isn't Justin Bieber peeing in mop buckets and racing his car around the neighborhood.

He's not a media star who seeks/thrives on drama, he's a professional athlete with an anger problem.  Not the first and won't be the last, people need to get over it.

Realize that social media makes things like this bigger than they are.  Stuff like that's been going on in every league throughout the years, we just hear about it more now.

Hes a talent anyone would want but you can't blow off his incidents of intimidating coaches and teammates as just having an anger problem. That excuse won't work on the team.

If we bring this guy in Stevens and Ainge will need to figure out how to work with him to get the most out of him without him disrupting the team. It would be a huge project but if the price is right I'm on board.

I just don't think you can keep saying it's just a little anger problem he has. It's way more then that and it's a risk to bring him in.

[incoherent]

I'd still take him in a second.  Cousins has some anger issues, but what he needs more than anything is a change of scenery.

I'm pretty disappointed in stuff like this, but he's still an undeniable, game-changing talent. He has definitely seemed to escalate this off-season into the early season.

I disagree.  Cousins has never led his team to the playoffs.  He's a horrible leader, and despite godly numbers he cant will his team to victory.

Undeniable, Game-Changing talent needs to be able to actually change the outcome of a game and Demarcus simply cannot. 

What you are describing is closer to Lebron James when he carried that horrible CLE team to the finals.

Or when Allen Iverson carried a pretty mediocre Philly team to the finals. 

Cousins cant even sniff the playoff----- not so game changing.

[walker834]

Not everyone is like that.  Even players.  The media is too.   Some of these people are overgrown babies and actually create drama themselves just to stir stuff up and aren't living in reality.  The media loves to control things and think they are helping these people grow up or something to some standard they have set. In general  a lot of these people aren't living in the real world. They thrive off drama.

Not every player is like that though. Some are more grounded than others. Some aren't the brighest tacks in the shed. Neither is the media.

It's sad some of it because a lot of these people dont' really care for one another.  They are using people instead of having actual sense.

Some of them are actually living in a fantasy world and just like to stir things up.  They are kids.

social media and all of that has created a lot of that even moreso.  They are detached in a lot of ways.

Cousins isn't Justin Bieber peeing in mop buckets and racing his car around the neighborhood.

He's not a media star who seeks/thrives on drama, he's a professional athlete with an anger problem.  Not the first and won't be the last, people need to get over it.

Realize that social media makes things like this bigger than they are.  Stuff like that's been going on in every league throughout the years, we just hear about it more now.

Oh I agree.  That's what I'm sayiing though.  I do think it's a shame for some of these guys though.  I don't mind Boogie but a lot of it is drama and not all his.  I used to work for a guy who played for the ny giants.  nicest guy.  thing is today none of these will probably ever work regular jobs.  That's not a knock on them.  they just are in this media circus and so are a lot of people.

It's not reality is all i'm saying and the media is just as bad.  How would you feel if your friends p---ed you off and then plastered it on the news as some wake up call.  That's just lame as hell.  I don't blame boogie for calling people clowns in ways.

It's just sad in ways he probably will never realize that himself and a lot of these guys do end up almost in this endless cycle.

Some players cope with it better than others.

[TrueFan]

I'd still take him in a second.  Cousins has some anger issues, but what he needs more than anything is a change of scenery.

I'm pretty disappointed in stuff like this, but he's still an undeniable, game-changing talent. He has definitely seemed to escalate this off-season into the early season.

I disagree.  Cousins has never led his team to the playoffs.  He's a horrible leader, and despite godly numbers he cant will his team to victory.

Undeniable, Game-Changing talent needs to be able to actually change the outcome of a game and Demarcus simply cannot. 

What you are describing is closer to Lebron James when he carried that horrible CLE team to the finals.

Or when Allen Iverson carried a pretty mediocre Philly team to the finals. 

Cousins cant even sniff the playoff----- not so game changing.

The Kings are one of the worst run franchises of the last 5 years.

The biggest problem is drafting horribly. At some point you have to cut Cousins some slack. He has played on some of the poorest teams in the NBA.

Iverson had a legit coach and legit role players surrounding him. He also did it in a weak weak Eastern conference.

[walker834]

my point being is a lot of people in this world like to think they are teaching people something. The media loves to control things and think theya re the righteous. When they are just being drama queens themselves.   Same with boogie though with his attitude sometimes.   It's like a disease in that respect.

common sense lost. Too much drama.

Boogie probably does even have some sort of personality disorder but it's not even that.  it's just who he is and how he copes.  hard to explain but it's just different people and a lot of drama.

he needs to lighten up a bit and find his ground and so does the media on him.

[walker834]

there's really no reason why the media should be digging up dirt on his brother that happened a long time ago.  If anything they are in the wrong for doing that.

the thing is what cousins said is about right.  say what you want about him but digging up dirt on his brother is pretty wrong.

how he said it etc is wrong but he was p---ed.

[The One]

If that's what happens in laid back Cali...

Imagine what happens if the Boston media gets ahold of him...BOOM...there goes the dynamite!

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I'd still take him in a second.  Cousins has some anger issues, but what he needs more than anything is a change of scenery.

I'm pretty disappointed in stuff like this, but he's still an undeniable, game-changing talent. He has definitely seemed to escalate this off-season into the early season.

I disagree.  Cousins has never led his team to the playoffs.  He's a horrible leader, and despite godly numbers he cant will his team to victory.

Undeniable, Game-Changing talent needs to be able to actually change the outcome of a game and Demarcus simply cannot. 

What you are describing is closer to Lebron James when he carried that horrible CLE team to the finals.

Or when Allen Iverson carried a pretty mediocre Philly team to the finals. 

Cousins cant even sniff the playoff----- not so game changing.

The Kings are one of the worst run franchises of the last 5 years.

The biggest problem is drafting horribly. At some point you have to cut Cousins some slack. He has played on some of the poorest teams in the NBA.

Iverson had a legit coach and legit role players surrounding him. He also did it in a weak weak Eastern conference.

Yeah, I don't get why some people see Sacto's lack of success as a knock against Cousins. He's a really good player, but he's not LeBron—he's not going to carry a sad-sack squad to the Finals, and that's the kind of team he's had for virtually his entire career.

[slightly biased bias fan]

Really two different issues here:

Demarcus' complaint ... a good one ... was that Furillo named Cousin's brother (who is NOT a public figure) in his negative column.  The inclusion of the brother in the story was completely unnecessary and irrelevant to the story.  Furillo was not "wrong" to do so but should not have.

The Bee is correct, though, that all of the writers should have left once one was excluded.

A third issue ... the Bee's adding that Demarcus' salary is $17 million ... is a "cheap" shot ... his conduct is neither better or worse because of his salary.  The shot is a cheap one because it uses an irrelevant but alienating fact to burnish its own argument.

This article was complete 'TMZ' one sided rubbish

[D Dub]

Well the author did their job, probably the most clicks Sacbee has ever seen...

And today will also be the last time I ever give them one of my clicks.  Garbage.