In the wake of reports that Sacramento Kings head coach George Karl is intent on trading DeMarcus Cousins, the 6-foot-11 center tweeted a not-so-subtle shot at Karl that consisted of emojis depicting a snake in the grass.
— DeMarcus Cousins (@boogiecousins) June 23, 2015
If Cousins was taking aim at Karl, he wasn’t exactly being original.
Chris Herring of the Wall Street Journal rounded up several old tweets from players who used the “snake in the grass” metaphor. Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith were both playing for Karl with the Denver Nuggets at the time:
WHEN THE GRASS IS CUT THE SNAKES WILL SHOW.
— Carmelo Anthony (@carmeloanthony) February 25, 2011
To many snakes in the grass got to get the lawn kut!
— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) October 7, 2011
Anthony’s tweet came just days after he was traded from the Nuggets to the New York Knicks. Smith’s tweet came months later.
Andre Iguodala, who also played for Karl in Denver, made a similar reference last year, though Karl was no longer his coach.
When the grass is cut…
— Andre Iguodala (@andre) May 15, 2014
As a Reddit user noted, Iguodala’s tweet came right around the time when the Golden State Warriors fired Mark Jackson, and Karl was one of the names who was rumored to be in the running to replace him.
In any event, you can see a pattern here. It remains to be seen if the Kings will give into Karl and trade Cousins to a potential suitor like this team. But if history has told us anything, this may not be the last time a player implies that Karl is a snake.
