How DeMarcus Cousins feels about the Kings' organization and the city of Sacramento are two completely different things.
While the current backup center for the Denver Nuggets holds the city and its citizens in high regard, he doesn't have many kind words to say about the Kings themselves. That was evident in recent comments Cousins made to Andscape's Marc J. Spears.
When asked if there was anything he would do differently to change his perception around the NBA, Cousins told Spears he wishes he had skipped a 2010 pre-draft workout with the Kings.
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"What did Sac do for me," Cousins told Spears when asked to explain. "Besides say my name [draft day]. I did more for them than they did for me. That’s just being honest. Just being 100 [percent] honest. I had two owners, three GMs, seven coaches in seven years. I was there seven years. I had three GMs, two owners and seven coaches. Not much more needs to be said."
George Karl, who was hired by the Kings during the 2014-15 NBA season and coached Cousins for the entire 2015-16 season as well, responded to those comments.
The Kings traded Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2017 All-Star break and he spent a season and a half there. He never got the payday he thought was coming to him in Sacramento and then he tore his Achilles right as he was set to become an unrestricted free agent.
Cousins stunned the NBA world when he signed with the Warriors in the summer of 2018. He didn't play immediately, but when he finally returned, he played 30 games and helped Golden State get to the NBA Finals where it lost to the Toronto Raptors in six games.
NBA
A free agent again, Cousins signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, but tore his ACL in August 2019 and he was waived in February 2020. Since then, he has spent time with the Houston Rockets, LA Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks and now the Nuggets, where he is reunited with former Kings coach Michael Malone.
Malone has been the one NBA coach that seems to have gotten through to Cousins, and the two were having success together in Sacramento until the Kings fired Malone after 24 games of the 2014-15 season.
"I thought they were insane, and it shows," Cousins told Spears regarding the Kings firing Malone. "You don’t even really have to speak on it, because what I knew then about Mike, I knew he would soar. He went to the next place and has been nothing but successful. When he was with us [in Sacramento], he was successful. Still doesn’t make sense and it never will. Everything else that happened to Sac should have never happened. That guy should have never been fired. The rest of what happened in Sac would have never happened if they let him go."
There's no telling how things would be different if the Kings never fired Malone, but Cousins believes he would still be in Sacramento if things had played out differently.
"Absolutely," Cousins told Spears. "We would’ve been winning. We would’ve won. Probably would have finished my career there along with Mike. Simple as that. I don’t reflect on it much anymore. I’ve kind of bounced around and been through so much other things, it’s hard to even harp on that situation. Sitting there focusing on that, I probably wouldn’t be where I’m at now.
"I had to put a lot of time and focus on just righting my wrongs, correcting my body, trying to get back in shape and all the other rehab. It was just so much other things. It’s hard to even focus on Sacramento, and for what? They sucked before I got there. They sucked when I was there. They sucked after I left."
Still, Cousins is proud of what he accomplished on the court in Sacramento.
"I put the time and work in," Cousins told Spears. "I hold many records there. I honestly think I’m the best player to ever come through Sacramento. And I stand on that, absolutely."
RELATED: Karl reignites Cousins feud by tweeting snake emoji
Despite all the comments about the Kings, Cousins has love for the city of Sacramento, as seen in his video of him talking at a going-away party after he had been traded to the Pelicans.
For now, Cousins is trying to help the Nuggets upset the Warriors in their first-round NBA playoff series. Denver trails the best-of-seven series one-game-to-none, with Game 2 set for Monday night at Chase Center. He scored seven points in 10 minutes in the series-opener on Saturday before being ejected, and he will look to bounce back as the Nuggets try to even the series.