The Sacramento Kings DeMarcus Cousins has demanded a trade, according to many news sources including ESPN and NBA.com. The 1st round, 5th overall pick in the 2010 draft was suspended by the team and told to stay home from the game last night between the Kings and Hornets. The Sacramento Kings have released a statement from head coach Paul Westphal:
“Whenever a new season begins, in any sport, there is great hope that everything will progress in only a steady, upward direction. As we all know, it seldom happens like that in this life!
As coaches, we can only ask that our players do everything they can to improve themselves as individuals and teammates. If they do this with all their hearts, we live with the results.
Everything that happens on a team does not become known to the public. This is how it should be. However, when a player continually, aggressively, lets it be known that he is unwilling/unable to embrace traveling in the same direction as his team, it cannot be ignored indefinitely.
DeMarcus Cousins has demanded to be traded. In the best interest of our team as we go forward, he has been directed by me, with the support of management, to stay home from the New Orleans game tonight.”
The exact details of the whole situation are not really known at this time and even Cousins agent, John Grieg, is said to have denied that there was any request for a trade.
Sacramento went on to win the contest against the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday night 96-80 with the absence of Cousins in the middle. Tyreke Evans led all scorers in the game with 27 points with Marcus Thornton putting in 25 while both players went 9 for 18 from the field. Trevor Ariza led the Hornets with 17 points while Chris Kaman had 14 points and 15 rebounds.
Demarcus Cousins is a 6-11, 270 lb. forward/center from Alabama that attended the University of Kentucky. He was drafted in the 1st round, 5th overall in the 2010 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings. He average 14.1 points, 8.6 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game in his rookie year. He was averaging 13 points, 11.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game in four games for the Kings in 2011.
Check out DeMarcus Cousins memorabilia here!
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