DeMarcus Cousins faces suspension after losing his cool, shoving coach, ejection
Boogie defining new ways to make bad situations worse
When DeMarcus Cousins' days in Sacramento are over, there will be many stories. About his gregariousness and warm heart, especially when it came to community events. About his huge shots and incredible talent, about how he could literally do it all as a 6-foot-11 big man. And about his legendary temper tantrums and corrosive behavior.
There's the podcast story about his ripping into then-interim-coach Ty Corbin a few years ago. There's the long line of nights where he failed to help his team defensively because he was pouting about non-calls. There are the times he's yelled openly at his coaches, berating them on the sideline. And then there's the techs. All of the techs.
Monday night's incident might have taken the cake. Cousins had picked up a technical foul earlier in the Kings' eventual loss to the Bulls 112-107, in a fracas that involved a Bulls assistant coach.
After Taj Gibson gets tech, Jim Boylen goes to help him and Boogie Cousins and Matt Barnes get upset and brush Boylen pic.twitter.com/83EfekXSIx
— Cody Westerlund (@CodyWesterlund) February 7, 2017
Then late in the game, after Cousins had made two huge shots, a 3-pointer and a thrilling and-one to tie the game, this happened:
Great play by Wade, right? So why is Boogie freaking out at the end?
Because Wade grabbed his jersey before the steal.

Cousins would go down, get fouled on a 3-point attempt, no call-- because you're almost never going to get a call in that kind of situation -- and the Kings would lose. But that's not enough for Cousins.
So with 1.1 seconds to go, the game is over, but Cousins loses his mind, picks up another technical, and is ejected from the game. Not only that, but that technical is Cousins' 16th of the season, which means he's suspended for Wednesday's game vs. Boston.
This, in a shell, is DeMarcus Cousins. He's so passionate, so fiery, so driven to win, that he absolutely cannot handle these kinds of swings. Cousins has stated repeatedly that he feels he is officiated differently than other superstars, and he clearly gets a bad shake here. He's justified in his case.
But you cannot lose your cool in that situation. You cannot turn one loss that feels wrong into two, just because you're unable to control your emotions. This is the whole problem with Cousins. He just cannot, or will not, contain himself, and doing so is part of not only being a star in the NBA and understanding losses happen, but just growing up as a person.
Cousins is unable to move on from the moment. There is no future in which Cousins needs to maintain his cool to avoid being suspended. For him, there is only this moment in which he is aggrieved. Until he gets over that, he will still be DeMarcus Cousins, the problematic superstar, too good to trade, too volatile to build around. And the Kings will keep having games like the loss to Chicago.
















