Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins was suspended for one game by the NBA on Thursday. He was also fined $20,000.
Cousins was suspended for punching Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley in the stomach with less than 10 minutes left in the first quarter of Tuesday’s game. The fine was for verbally abusing official Courtney Kirkland and not leaving the court in a timely manner after he was ejected from the game in the third quarter. He had 16 points and six rebounds in Tuesday’s game and apologized after the game on Twitter.
This isn’t the first time that Cousins’ behavior has gotten him into trouble. The NBA has had to rescind a technical foul for him in each of the last two seasons so that he wouldn’t get suspended. He leads the NBA in technical fouls this season with 15 and will be suspended for one game if he gets another technical foul, according to the Associated Press.
"He lost his composure, that's all I saw, and then he got thrown out of the game," Kings coach Michael Malone said. "It's disappointing. ... Do I condone his actions? No, not at all. Does he have to handle himself better? Sure he does. We just need to get him to understand that we don't need him to get kicked out of the ballgame."
The Kings signed Cousins to a four-year, $62 million contract extension before the season started. He leads the Kings in scoring (22.3 points per game) and rebounds (11.5), ESPN notes. Cousins 22.3 points and 11.5 rebounds are career high averages and he has a career average of 2.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He has a shooting percentage of 48.3, which is a career best also.
Cousins will serve his one game suspension on Friday.