DeMarcus Cousins is more explosive than any center in the NBA, but lately, he’s hurt the Kings with his short fuse.
On Monday versus the Hawks, the 24-year-old earned his eleventh technical foul of the season. Whatever he said to the referees, it didn’t matter. Atlanta converted the free throw, and the point came back to haunt the Kings in a game that was close to the final seconds.
Since entering the NBA, Cousins has been called for a league-leading 70 technical fouls. While he hasn’t committed a flagrant foul since the 2012-13 season, the All-Star has been ejected nine times since 2010.
Cousins has drawn the crosshairs of every opponent, who realize pushing his buttons may equate to an easier victory. His raw emotion paints a target on him with both his opponents and the three striped folks carrying whistles.
There’s no question that Cousins’ heart is fully invested in winning. Yet keeping his emotions in check has been a riddle that several coaches have yet to solve. He appeared to make progress under Michael Malone, but it was all for naught when Malone was relieved of his duties in December.
Enter former Coach of the Year George Karl, who counseled numerous combustible personalities prior to joining the Kings. The 63-year-old has talked to Cousins about his uncanny penchant for technicals, and believes they can relate a little.
“I don’t want to tell you this, but I was probably not as emotional as DeMarcus was when I was younger, but I was near the line,” Karl told the media at Tuesday practice. “The game meant a lot to me. And when I got angry, I said things that I probably shouldn’t have said and I did things I probably shouldn’t have done. I told him (Cousins), I said, ‘I’ve probably been fined over half a million dollars in my time in the NBA for being stupid, while crazy.’ Whatever the word is you want to use.”
Since Karl joined the Kings at the All-Star break, Cousins has drawn five technicals, while the coach has notched two himself. Perhaps not the best way to lead by example.
Nevertheless, Karl acknowledges that basketball is an emotional game, and that indifference would be most alarming. Cousins is allowed some leeway for now, but the coach would like his pivot to channel emotions into something constructive.
“In general, I have no problem with his passion, but I think he can turn that passion into positive passion rather than, kind of most of the time it’s observed as instability or negative passion,” Karl added.
Until then, Cousins will continue to rack up monster numbers, including technical fouls.
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