Cousins attempts to physically intimidate writer

[Reeko]

Is that the same reporter trying to talk over Demarcus by asking him a question while Boogie is answering someone else? If so dude is a hack of a journalist. Come to Toronto Boogz we don't have hacks like that in our media scrums.

[dc]

I think it's worth mentioning that Kings ownership has basically given Grant Napear (the team's long time announcer) the green light to rip into Cousins anytime he wants. And Napear has taken the liberty to do so on more than one occasion.

That's a paid employee of the team, not a writer or reporter. Let's just say I don't see the Pelicans ownership endorsing their announcers to do the same with Anthony Davis.

The Kings don't own Napear's local radio show in Sacramento. Whatever he says about Cousins, it is on his own dime. Napear doesn't "rip" into Cousins on the Kings' broadcast. So no, Napear does NOT have "the green light to rip into Cousins anytime he wants"

Doesn't take away from the fact that the guy is a paid employee of the team. If they really had a problem with him ripping on the franchise player (even on his own show), they'd suggest he quit with the public comments if he wanted to keep his broadcast job.

[Winsome Gerbil]

Anyone aware if there is a history between these guys?

Oh yeah.

And note this is the reporter himself spinning this tale, and his cohort, lady writer over there. Get the impression they have been trying to drive Cousins out of that town for years. Don't know what started it, but some of the columns written by those two have really been personal.

And hey, I like Cousins, but he is the very last guy to ever let anything like that go. His twin wars are against the press and refs. Pretty chill with everybody else.

[KF10]

I think it's worth mentioning that Kings ownership has basically given Grant Napear (the team's long time announcer) the green light to rip into Cousins anytime he wants. And Napear has taken the liberty to do so on more than one occasion.

That's a paid employee of the team, not a writer or reporter. Let's just say I don't see the Pelicans ownership endorsing their announcers to do the same with Anthony Davis.

The Kings don't own Napear's local radio show in Sacramento. Whatever he says about Cousins, it is on his own dime. Napear doesn't "rip" into Cousins on the Kings' broadcast. So no, Napear does NOT have "the green light to rip into Cousins anytime he wants"

Doesn't take away from the fact that the guy is a paid employee of the team. If they really had a problem with him ripping on the franchise player (even on his own show), they'd suggest he quit with the public comments if he wanted to keep his broadcast job.

I've never argued that he wasn't a paid employee for the Kings. That is not my point.

Correct me if I'm wrong but Napear is protected by the First Amendment. The Kings can't simply go to Napear and threaten his broadcast job for something that he can say on his radio show.

[JonnyFive5]

The Kings don't own Napear's local radio show in Sacramento. Whatever he says about Cousins, it is on his own dime. Napear doesn't "rip" into Cousins on the Kings' broadcast. So no, Napear does NOT have "the green light to rip into Cousins anytime he wants"

Doesn't take away from the fact that the guy is a paid employee of the team. If they really had a problem with him ripping on the franchise player (even on his own show), they'd suggest he quit with the public comments if he wanted to keep his broadcast job.

I've never argued that he wasn't a paid employee for the Kings. That is not my point.

Correct me if I'm wrong but Napear is protected by the First Amendment. The Kings can't simply go to Napear and threaten his broadcast job for something that he can say on his radio show.

That happens on the time. People get fired all the time for **** they say on twitter.

[Peja Stojakovic]

Correct me if I'm wrong but Napear is protected by the First Amendment. The Kings can't simply go to Napear and threaten his broadcast job for something that he can say on his radio show.

that's not at all how the first amendment works lol

[MartinToVaught]

Another Cousins outburst, another thread full of people blaming everyone but Cousins and explaining how his behavior would magically turn around if he was on "a real team" (translation: their team) instead of the Kings. It's really getting old.

[dc]

Correct me if I'm wrong but Napear is protected by the First Amendment. The Kings can't simply go to Napear and threaten his broadcast job for something that he can say on his radio show.

The First Amendment only prevents the government from throwing people in jail or oppressing them in some way for something they say or express. It does nothing to protect employees if an employer doesn't like what they say publicly.

Witness the numerous times every year that people are fired from their jobs for stupid/offensive posts on social media. The First Amendment doesn't protect them in these cases because it only protects them from actions from by the government, not employers.

There is nothing to stop the Kings from dropping Napear if they don't approve of his comments made on his own show. It wouldn't be any different than people getting fired for social media posts that they make on their own time outside of work hours.

[jackwindham]

I sometimes wonder if people defend Cousins and his antics because they want to see him as a part of their team's rotation.

[KF10]

Doesn't take away from the fact that the guy is a paid employee of the team. If they really had a problem with him ripping on the franchise player (even on his own show), they'd suggest he quit with the public comments if he wanted to keep his broadcast job.

I've never argued that he wasn't a paid employee for the Kings. That is not my point.

Correct me if I'm wrong but Napear is protected by the First Amendment. The Kings can't simply go to Napear and threaten his broadcast job for something that he can say on his radio show.

That happens on the time. People get fired all the time for **** they say on twitter.

You have to admit -- most who were fired due to Twitter was because of some racist, bigotry, discriminatory stuff. Napear has never said anything of that vile stuff on his radio show about Cousins.

Again, I don't think the Kings can threaten his broadcast job just because for his non-racist/bigotry/discriminatory opinion about Cousins. They may tell him to "tone it down" but to regulate his opinions and speech is something you can't do -- especially on his radio show, imo.

[JonnyFive5]

I've never argued that he wasn't a paid employee for the Kings. That is not my point.

Correct me if I'm wrong but Napear is protected by the First Amendment. The Kings can't simply go to Napear and threaten his broadcast job for something that he can say on his radio show.

That happens on the time. People get fired all the time for **** they say on twitter.

You have to admit -- most who were fired due to Twitter was because of some racist, bigotry, discriminatory stuff. Napear has never said anything of that vile stuff on his radio show about Cousins.

Again, I don't think the Kings can threaten his broadcast job just because for his non-racist/bigotry/discriminatory opinion about Cousins. They may tell him to "tone it down" but to regulate his opinions and speech is something you can't do -- especially on his radio show, imo.

I can assume that most where but I don't know for sure. I am sure there have been situations where an employee has bashed their company and lost their job because of it, and I think that situation is more in line with what's going on here.

[Smitty731]

As a member of the media, I can tell you the bigger issue is that the NBA and NBAPA have agreed to rules about interacting with the media. Cousins refused to talk or answer questions as long as the reporter in question was in the locker room. He has an obligation to talk because the CBA dictates that he will talk. He can pull a Marshawn Lynch if he wants and not answer anything, but he can't just refuse to talk because he doesn't like what was written.

As for my personal opinion, this is just the latest in a string of issues with Cousins. It started out as on the court stuff, but it has now spilled over to off the court. And several reports (a couple of which I can confirm through my own sources) are that multiple teams view him as untouchable. Some from GMs and some from ownership. I don't think it is as simple as "get him out of Sacramento and he'll improve." Old dogs, new tricks/tigers, stripes. Pick the one you want.

Oh and nothing the reporter wrote was remotely disrespectful. Like them or not, TMZ is a credible news gathering organization and is regularly cited in reports across all aspects of journalism. The reporter simply aggregated a number of facts related to questionable off the court behavior by Cousins. And he didn't like it. That is his right, but he made his bed and has to lie in it.

[MartinToVaught]

I sometimes wonder if people defend Cousins and his antics because they want to see him as a part of their team's rotation.

I really feel like this is the unspoken agenda behind a lot of the apologetics for Cousins' behavior.

[KF10]

Correct me if I'm wrong but Napear is protected by the First Amendment. The Kings can't simply go to Napear and threaten his broadcast job for something that he can say on his radio show.

The First Amendment only prevents the government from throwing people in jail or oppressing them in some way for something they say or express. It does nothing to protect employees if an employer doesn't like what they say publicly.

Witness the numerous times every year that people are fired from their jobs for stupid/offensive posts on social media. The First Amendment doesn't protect them in these cases because it only protects them from actions from by the government, not employers.

There is nothing to stop the Kings from dropping Napear if they don't approve of his comments made on his own show. It wouldn't be any different than people getting fired for social media posts that they make on their own time outside of work hours.

But Napear has never made an offensive, discriminatory, "slanderous" comments about Cousins, though. Those who were fired due to Twitter are mostly because they said some racist, bigotry, discriminatory stuff and that is a major no-no. No matter what. Napear hasn't even come close to that stuff with Cousins.

Or am I wrong about this?

It's been a while I heard from Napear's show but I don't recall him being as bad as Furillo and Voison. Those guys do really toss Cousins' name into the mud and love to smear on it for fun. So, I could see those guys can really make shake Cousins' boat hard.

[Smitty731]

I've never argued that he wasn't a paid employee for the Kings. That is not my point.

Correct me if I'm wrong but Napear is protected by the First Amendment. The Kings can't simply go to Napear and threaten his broadcast job for something that he can say on his radio show.

That happens on the time. People get fired all the time for **** they say on twitter.

You have to admit -- most who were fired due to Twitter was because of some racist, bigotry, discriminatory stuff. Napear has never said anything of that vile stuff on his radio show about Cousins.

Again, I don't think the Kings can threaten his broadcast job just because for his non-racist/bigotry/discriminatory opinion about Cousins. They may tell him to "tone it down" but to regulate his opinions and speech is something you can't do -- especially on his radio show, imo.

This is a legit question: Do the Kings own the channel/station/company that Napear works for as a broadcaster? Those roles are very, very tricky. Some broadcasters are considered almost a part of the team, while others just enjoy a very close relationship with the team. For example, the Heat broadcast team got championship rings and are treated as part of the team. In other places, they don't even allow the broadcast team to fly on the team plane anymore. Not sure what the Kings situation is. That would go a long way in explaining what Grant Napear can and can't say.

[dc]

Again, I don't think the Kings can threaten his broadcast job just because for his non-racist/bigotry/discriminatory opinion about Cousins.

Except that they can. They can say that such language negatively affects the perception of their product and hurts their image and potentially their business. They could easily make that argument if they wanted to, but they likely wouldn't even need to do that.

[KF10]

That happens on the time. People get fired all the time for **** they say on twitter.

You have to admit -- most who were fired due to Twitter was because of some racist, bigotry, discriminatory stuff. Napear has never said anything of that vile stuff on his radio show about Cousins.

Again, I don't think the Kings can threaten his broadcast job just because for his non-racist/bigotry/discriminatory opinion about Cousins. They may tell him to "tone it down" but to regulate his opinions and speech is something you can't do -- especially on his radio show, imo.

I can assume that most where but I don't know for sure. I am sure there have been situations where an employee has bashed their company and lost their job because of it, and I think that situation is more in line with what's going on here.

Fair point.

[islanders11040]

honestly think cousins is misunderstood person. he loves people who love him and hates people who hate him thats it. there is no inbetween. i would love him on the raptors

The new Rasheed...

So it only makes sense for Cousins to demand a trade to Detroit

Drummond for Cousins!

Make it happen SVG

Sent from my SM-J110F using RealGM mobile app

I actually like this idea. Detroit is in danger of plateauing at borderline playoff position and being pretty much capped out for the next 2 free agency periods. Bringing in Cousins can change up the spacing dynamic and increase their ceiling. What do pistons fans think?

[KF10]

That happens on the time. People get fired all the time for **** they say on twitter.

You have to admit -- most who were fired due to Twitter was because of some racist, bigotry, discriminatory stuff. Napear has never said anything of that vile stuff on his radio show about Cousins.

Again, I don't think the Kings can threaten his broadcast job just because for his non-racist/bigotry/discriminatory opinion about Cousins. They may tell him to "tone it down" but to regulate his opinions and speech is something you can't do -- especially on his radio show, imo.

This is a legit question: Do the Kings own the channel/station/company that Napear works for as a broadcaster? Those roles are very, very tricky. Some broadcasters are considered almost a part of the team, while others just enjoy a very close relationship with the team. For example, the Heat broadcast team got championship rings and are treated as part of the team. In other places, they don't even allow the broadcast team to fly on the team plane anymore. Not sure what the Kings situation is. That would go a long way in explaining what Grant Napear can and can't say.

I have no clue either. I don't keep track about that. I would guess that they do and the Kings pay their announcers their salaries too.

[dc]

This is a legit question: Do the Kings own the channel/station/company that Napear works for as a broadcaster? Those roles are very, very tricky. Some broadcasters are considered almost a part of the team, while others just enjoy a very close relationship with the team. For example, the Heat broadcast team got championship rings and are treated as part of the team. In other places, they don't even allow the broadcast team to fly on the team plane anymore. Not sure what the Kings situation is. That would go a long way in explaining what Grant Napear can and can't say.

KHTK is the "flagship" station for the Kings and they are under contract with the team to broadcast their games. Napear has a regularly scheduled weekly show called "The Grant Napear Show" on this very station and this has often been when he has ripped Cousins a new one.

However you want to coin it, Kings ownership doesn't seem to have a problem at all with one of their paid employees and "voice" of the team ripping into Cousins. Wouldn't surprise me if they essentially had him be the "bad cop" of the franchise to let him know when his behavior becomes unacceptable.