During an interview he did with SportsCenter on Thursday, February 16, DeMarcus Cousins spoke about wanting to retire with the Kings and expressed confidence that Sacramento likes him enough to offer him the kind of contract that will bring him back come the summertime. Getting the league's referees to like him though, is another issue, said Cousins, who claims he's made a concerted effort to gain the favor of officials, but hasn't seen them reciprocate a willingness to start again.
"You know, I've earned that reputation throughout the past, but um, you know, I've also gone out of my way to, you know, try to make a change with how I interact throughout the game and with the refs. But sometimes people don't want to let go and um, it just is what it is," said Cousins, who was asked whether he feels in any way responsible for the way he is perceived, after it was pointed out to him that he has amassed 17 technical fouls going into the All-Star break. Cousins claims to have no clue what could be earning him so many techs, except maybe the fact that he shows the kind of emotion one might expect from a human being. In his estimation, it may just take him being completely stoic to avoid hearing the whistle. "I can't show any type of emotion. Even if I'm happy, I can't show that. I just, I have to be a robot," he said.
Last week Cousins made history by becoming the fastest player to collect his 16th tech since the 16 technical foul rule was instituted in 2005-06. The 16 technical foul rule punishes any player who reaches the mark by suspending them a game. Cousins was called for his 16th on February 6, beating Dwight Howard to his March 5 mark, which he set in 2011. Cousins faces the threat of another suspension with his next tech, as the rule dictates that a player faces another 1-game suspension with every other technical foul called after number 16. With each suspension also comes a $5,000 fine.
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