DeMarcus Cousins Fined $50k After Confrontation with Reporter

Earlier this week, Sacramento Kings big man DeMarcus Cousins went off on Sacramento Bee sports columnist Andy Furillo, after the reporter referenced his brother’s arrest in an article.

The column was written after the altercation between Matt Barnes and a woman in a New York City night club, which was recently revealed to be self-defense on Barnes’ part. As Furillo described the incident, he said Cousins allegedly “sucker punched” the woman’s boyfriend. However, what really upset Cousins is what Furillo said afterwards.

The columnist went on to discuss the entire incident from the investigation to their counsel, and towards the end of the column, Furillo mentioned that the NYC night out was Cousins’ second this year that turned ugly. The first night involved his little brother Jaleel, which struck a nerve for Cousins.

The column read:

“For Cousins, this is his second late-night outing on the club circuit this year that ended badly. In May, TMZ caught him at The DrYnk in Tampa with his younger brother, Jaleel. The celebrity gossip website reported that he and his brother were trying to get into the club’s DJ area when a confrontation broke out. Jaleel wound up getting shocked with a Taser and arrested while friends hustled DeMarcus out of the place.”

The interaction between Cousins and Furillo was caught on camera. The NBA baller can be seen towering over Furillo, while spewing several profanities, demanding that he never speak on Cousins’ family again.

However, since then, it appears the Sacramento big man has been fined $50,000 for his confrontation with Furillo.

“The Kings have a clear set of standards of conduct expected of our entire organization. As a result of negative interactions with certain members of the media that were not corrected after verbal warnings, we have decided to impose a substantial fine,” a statement from the team read, provided by The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears. “If this behavior is repeated again we will be forced to consider further discipline.”

Cousins also released a statement, regarding the hefty fine.

“There is a time, place and manner to say everything, and I chose the wrong ones. Like most people, I am fiercely protective of my friends and family, and I let my emotions get the best of me in this situation. I understand my actions were inexcusable and I commit to upholding the professional standards of the Kings and the NBA. I apologize to my teammates, fans and the Kings organization for my behavior and the ensuing distraction and look forward to moving on and focusing on basketball.”

The team’s head coach had a few words about the confrontation as well. Dave Joerger denounced Cousins’ demeanor, but understood his point of view, according to Sacramento Bee’s Jason Jones.

“I do think what the Sacramento Bee did the other day was just ridiculous. That’s terrible, terrible journalism. What DeMarcus did was excessive, no doubt, but to go at home and ‘the diminutive reporter stood next to the 6’11” athlete as he towered over him and stood his ground’ stop. This is ridiculous. This guy is the face of our franchise. He’s done and said somethings that he wishes he could do over. He’s improved, he’s gotten better. But to go and use other reporters, third person, oh he bullies his coaches or he bullies, that is crap. And to put it out there like that, that is ridiculous. They put my family on blast, my wife, my two kids with their names and their ages in an article about my house. That ticked me off but I can take it, i know what i signed up for. Don’t bring my family into that stuff. I’m not justifying anything that he’s done. What he did is excessive, we’ve talked about it. But enough is enough, this is getting ridiculous.”

Check out the confrontation below: