Sacramento Kings star DeMarcus Cousins will pay a “substantial fine” as punishment for cussing out a Sacramento Bee columnist and mistreating various other media members, according to The Undefeated’s Marc Spears.
Via Spears, this is the Kings’ statement on the matter:
“The Kings have a clear set of standards of conduct expected of our entire organization. As a result of negative interactions with certain members of the media that were not corrected after verbal warnings, we have decided to impose a substantial fine. If this behavior is repeated again we will be forced to consider further discipline.”
The incident with Bee columnist Andy Furillo prompted an article in the paper chronicling Cousins’ frequent instances of disrespect toward the media. Here’s a greatest hits compilation:
Still, kudos to Sacramento for sending the message that intimidating reporters isn’t cool. It’s really not appropriate in a professional setting for a 6-foot-11 guy to yell and curse at people a foot shorter than he is in hopes that they’ll accede to his unreasonable requests.
Cousins’ behavior toward Furillo was especially gross because Furillo had not actually made a mistake. The columnist had simply alluded to a well-publicized incident involving Cousins’ brother, and Cousins wished he hadn’t. In the context of Furillo’s column, it made perfect sense to mention that prior dust-up, and it would have been impossible to do so without using the name of Cousins’ brother. If Cousins had an issue with Furillo’s (highly critical) piece, there must have been a better way of dealing with it than profanity and intimidation.
Cousins’ relationship with the Sacramento media will be something to watch closely in the aftermath of this brouhaha. The fine is supposed to compel him to behave better around reporters, but you have to figure the relationship will become only more frosty in the coming months.
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