DeMarcus Cousins’ NBA career has been a rocky one.
The Kings drafted him fifth overall back in 2010, where he eventually developed into the best center in the Association. After years of individual success but few wins, Boogie was traded to New Orleans he and Anthony Davis combined to form an incredible frontcourt tandem.
However, a torn Achilles suffered in 2018 detonated the first of many injuries that would rob him of a future Hall of Fame career.
Tensions in Sacramento ran high, both on and off the court. And in a recent conversation with Marc J. Spears, Cousins said he wished he would’ve skipped his predraft workout with the Kings altogether:
What did Sac do for me? Besides say my name [draft day]. I did more for them than they did for me. That’s just being honest. Just being 100 percent honest. I had two owners, three GMs, seven coaches in seven years. I was there seven years … Not much more needs to be said.
DeMarcus Cousins’ comments got quite the reaction from NBA Twitter, including former coach George Karl.
“Paid you approx $50M and gave you the opportunity to play professional basketball for a living,” the 70-year-old replied.
Paid you approx $50M and gave you the opportunity to play professional basketball for a living. 🤔😳 https://t.co/KToj2OI82p
— George Karl (@CoachKarl22) April 18, 2022
“Yeah dude no one was gonna pay the 25-10-5 guy or give him an opportunity to play basketball if it weren’t for the giving and caring Sacramento Kings,” said Tyler Conway.
yeah dude no one was gonna pay the 25-10-5 guy or give him an opportunity to play basketball if it weren’t for the giving and caring Sacramento Kings https://t.co/GRxiVqt9LF
— Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) April 19, 2022
“Ah, so this is the goodness i miss by never checking my timeline,” tweeted Bomani Jones. “Wow. Kinda wonder what Dean Smith would think about this, tho.”
ah, so this is the goodness i miss by never checking my timeline. wow.
kinda wonder what dean smith would think about this, tho. https://t.co/2ErvJxCWK0
— bomani (@bomani_jones) April 19, 2022
“This is giving racism,” a Philly sports Twitch streamer replied.
This is giving racism. https://t.co/CpXa3a1bCL
— Kei (@RealMamaEagle) April 19, 2022
“This is one way to know that a coach never actually cared about their players,” commented another user.
This is one way to know that a coach never actually cared about their players. https://t.co/PPH9WvwI5o
— Glen Willis (@willis_glen) April 19, 2022
This isn’t George Karl’s first public rift with a former player.