DeMarcus Cousins was ejected in the third quarter of the Sacramento Kings’ loss to the Utah Jazz on Saturday night, but the center insists he was not at fault. After he was called for a foul on Utah’s Enes Kanter that he disagreed with, Cousins earned his first technical of the night by slapping the ball out of Kanter’s hands. The second technical came when he disagreed with a call and appeared to say something to referee Gary Zielinski, earning himself an ejection.
However, Cousins insisted on Monday that he “didn’t say a word” to Zielinski and it was actually the official who swore at him.
“The referee cursed at me,” the 22-year-old told The Sacramento Bee. “He told me to go (expletive) ask the other referee (about the first technical foul). I was going to say something back, kept my cool and walked away and still end up with a technical. So I still don’t understand.”
In fact, after watching the replay Cousins says he came to the conclusion that the ref T’ed him up simply because of his reputation.
“It’s DeMarcus Cousins, so let’s ‘T’ him up,” he said sarcastically.
Cousins has been known for having an attitude problem since he came into the league in 2010, and it was basically the main reason he was left off the Team USA basketball roster in London. As the tattoo he got represents, DeMarcus feels as though a lot of people don’t understand him. In a sense he’s right — officials more than likely have a quicker trigger with him because of his past. But it will take a lot more time and a lot less complaining to shake that reputation.
H/T SLAM Online
Photo credit: Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE
