Heading into this June's draft, the one knock on DeMarcus Cousins was his demeanor could often be a little much to handle. It's part of the reason that despite all his talent, he fell to fifth in the draft to the Kings. Earlier this season on Nov 1., ESPN's Chad Ford reported "sources close to the Kings tell me that Cousins has earned his reputation for being difficult. Several players on the team have complained privately about his attitude and he's already butted heads with assistant coaches in practice." In the Weekend Dime on Friday, ESPN's Marc Stein is reporting similarly, which we've noted below.
It's certainly extremely early in Cousins' NBA career. He's only 20 years old. But so far, the center -- who's coming off the bench behind Samuel Dalembert now -- seems to be living up to his reputation. And it could continue to have adverse effects on his team as the season goes along.
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"Worrisome murmurs this week emanating from Sacramento, where giving up 42 points to Michael Beasley and losing at home to a Wolves team that pretty much never wins on the road apparently aren't the Kings' biggest issues. Word is that handling rookie forward DeMarcus Cousins is proving to be an even bigger job for coach Paul Westphal and his staff than expected, even after the Kings hired Cousins' high school coach (Otis Hughley) in hopes of keeping the 20-year-old -- freshly relegated to a bench role -- plugged in. One source close to the situation told ESPN.com that Cousins was fined recently for clashing with members of Westphal's staff. I've also been advised that it's not one-and-done as far as such clashes go, which has created a level of tension that -- anticipated or not -- obviously isn't what the Kings need when they're already operating at such an experience deficit on top of their serious defensive frailties. No one doubts the potential possessed by the Kings' precocious tag team of Cousins and Tyreke Evans. But as one veteran scout warned me during summer league in Las Vegas, when tales and hints of Cousins' volatility and immaturity spread quickly: 'It's always risky to have two young divas on the same team.' Didn't take long for the Kings to find out."
