With the entire NBA universe having eyes on Brooklyn, New York for the annual All-Star festivities, the slightest sentence or comment will be put on center stage. Sacramento Kings big man and All-Star DeMarcus Cousins has now been placed in that category.
According to ESPN, Cousins doesn't like NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley too much.
"It ain't personal," Cousins said. "I mean, I don't really respect the guy, but at the same time, I don't really care what he thinks either. I don't respect him and I don't care what he thinks."
The comments are in response to Barkley saying the Kings should not have consulted Cousins about hiring their new head coach, George Karl.
"Why are they discussing it with him," Barkley said during a TNT telecast. "Yeah, I am totally disgusted with that. ... He hasn't done enough to deserve that type of power. [The Kings] stink. Why would you give a guy that young that type of power?"
Cousins is apparently shaking it off as Barkley doing his thing.
"I mean, that's Charles being Charles. A lot of people don't really know the real story about it," Cousins said. "I never really had anything to do with it in the first place."
Regardless of how Cousins feels about the former Philadelphia 76ers forward, it's now "out there" that there's a quarrel between the two men. How this shakes out the rest of the year remains to be seen.
Cousins is currently averaging 23.8 points and 12.5 rebounds per game and will play for the Western Conference in tomorrow's All-Star game at Madison Square Garden, notes Pro Basketball Reference.
Screenshot Courtesy of YouTube