DeMarcus Cousins – A Monster Or Not?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past few months, the only thing you’ve routinely heard when discussing new Kings big man DeMarcus Cousins is the amount of red flags he has. I mean, if I didn’t know better…I’d assume the guy had a rap sheet that would make Rae Carruth blush. Yet, in all actuality – the red flags are few and far between.

For what it’s worth, we’ve become accustom to players like Lebron James, John Wall, and even Tyreke Evans – players who handle themselves like the celebrities they are. They’re all very mature in the way they compose themselves on and off the court (excuse the reckless driving, Tyreke). They’ve been groomed by professionals, they’ve dealt with major media since they were about 13 years old, and they’ve had their ticket stamped to the NBA even before that. Essentially, these guys are manicured in the same fashion that young actors and musicians are. But what about Boogie Cousins? Isn’t he some monster? Far from it.

Off the court, DeMarcus is your prototypical 19 year old kid. If you’ve yet to read the fabulous article on Cousins from FreeDarko, I highly recommend it. We learn about Cousins the person – the real person, not the criminal that Jay Bilas tried to paint in his pre-draft coverage. His continued attack on DeMarcus was shameful – the backhanded compliments as thin as Bilas’ fading hair line.

Sure, Cousins evidenced poor body language at times. So do most NBA players. I mean, fuck – I was forced to watch Brad Miller nearly break down in tears after poor calls and throw repeated cheap shot after cheap shot, yet somehow Cousins emotions are considered detrimental? Most people love Rasheed Wallace yet his over the top emotions and antics aren’t frowned upon, only laughed at?  Oh, and apparently Cousins plays too physical. Wait, say what? Too physical? Since when can a player play too physical? Any player who played during the 80’s and early 90’s laughs at the softness of the leagues current state and it’s hard to argue with them. Players go to the ground thriving in pain as if an Israeli sniper just blew off their calf muscle from section 307. It’s atrocious. So yes, maybe Cousins does play with a bit of throwback grime to his game. But now he’s punished for having a set of balls? Major media jumped on Cousins during a game versus Louisville earlier this year for an elbow he threw at Jared Swopshire. Watching the coverage of ESPN and other media outlets would lead you to believe Cousins was hopped up on PCP, but the situation wasn’t unprovoked. Watching the replay, unintentional or not, it’s very clear that Swopshire’s knee, in an attempt to gain leverage, makes contact with Cousins head. We see similar situations occur in the NBA all the time. A whistle blows, maybe some double tech’s are called and the game continues on. I take it he’s supposed to enjoy a knee to the head? There wasn’t anything premeditated about the situation but since Cousins had this perceived case of asshole-itis, I guess we’re just lucky Cousins didn’t pull out his glock and let off a few rounds into the crowd.

Speaking of shooting things – how bout the Clippers pick Al-Farouq Aminu? You know, that guy who was arrested for aggravated assault and trespassing for shooting a woman with a BB gun from a moving vehicle.

I can sense by your reaction you didn’t hear much of that during the draft coverage, so, I’ll repeat that for you my little snowflakes.

The Los Angeles Clippers draft selection Al-Farouq Aminu was arrested for aggravated assault for shooting a woman with a BB gun. Look, I’m not going to pass judgment on the Aminu situation – who knows the real story behind it all, but considering the amount of crap Cousins had thrown his way it’s absolutely amazing that Cousins was vilified while players who’ve committed actual crimes were completely ignored and praised.

One thing I also touched on earlier was the perceived lack of maturity that Cousins has. In all honesty, I’m not really sure where those claims even come from. He’s had some heat of the moment battles with his coach, yes. He’s had a few small tussles with opposing players, yes. And he’s mocked a crowd before, yes. Surely he could have handled himself better in those situations, but if THOSE are the red flags that everybody is so concerned about, sign me up time and time again.

Listen, I’m pretty convinced there is no player in the league more immature than Milwaukee’s Brandon Jennings. The guy might as well walk around with a billboard strapped to his neck Flava Flav style as it blinked “LOOK AT ME”. Yet, it took the jaws of life to remove the major media outlets lips from his ass.

I’m not trying to convince people of DeMarcus Cousins basketball game. That’s for you to decide. But the continued dragging of Cousins through the mud is silly and wrong. Maybe he’s not the most personable guy in the world. Maybe he plays a bit rough on the court and isn’t afraid to knock a guy down if need be. Maybe he acts his age and isn’t a well manicured international icon yet. But one thing he isn’t, is the monster he’s perceived to be.