DeMarcus Cousins Wanted To End Career With Sacramento Kings

DeMarcus Cousins was on the All The Smoke Podcast this week, and discussed his tenure with and breakup from the Sacramento Kings.

Former Sacramento Kings all-star DeMarcus Cousins was a guest on the most recent episode of the All The Smoke Podcast hosted by Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. One of the first topics of discussion was the end of Cousins’ rocky tenure in Sacramento, and there were plenty of noteworthy quotes from the interview.

After discussing how it felt to learn of the trade live on camera after the All-Star Game in 2017, Barnes asked Cousins how he felt about being dealt, knowing his heart was in Sacramento.

"“I wanted to finish my career there. But at the same time…the way it went down, at the end of the day we all know it’s a business…as much as I put in to that city I felt like I deserved a little more.”"

Jackson then asked, “So that’s not what you wanted?”

Cousins didn’t hesitate one bit:

"“No, not at all. And we were making the playoffs that year. For a fact, we were making the playoffs…And I believe that’s why they did the trade, because it would have been harder to do it (if you made the playoffs.) We were a half-game out, with an easy schedule that year. I remember that.”"

While it is certainly not news that Cousins wanted to remain in Sacramento, to hear him be so sure of that fact to this day reassures his place in the hearts of the Kings fanbase. He was a budding superstar who loved the city and the city loved him back. His trade was met with plenty of animosity, not only because of the on-court implications, but his presence in the community as well.

A couple of other interesting tidbits from that particular discussion on the podcast:

• Matt Barnes mentioned that when he played for the Kings alongside Cousins, management would often come to him and tell him that they wouldn’t be trading the big man.

• Cousins said that his locker was next to Russell Westbrook‘s during All-Star Weekend 2017, and that Russ kept telling him that he was hearing Cousins-related rumors.