DeMarcus Cousins pledges loyalty to Sacramento Kings; rules out departure – NBA Update
Sacramento Kings are a team on the rise and one of their assets is young centre DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins however is a temperamental character and rumour had it early in the NBA season that he wasn’t happy at the franchise.
The player has improved significantly since his rookie year and is fast becoming a mainstay for the Kings. It is understandable then that Sacramento fans have been increasingly worried over persisting talk of the centre moving away from their beloved club.
Cousins however, has now gone a long way to ease those fears, by stating in no uncertain terms that he will be staying with the Kings. DeMarcus stated during a recent interview that he loved the organization and the city, and isn’t looking to play his basketball
anywhere else.
“Sacramento is where I want to be,’’ he said. “I want to bring the organization back, help the organization get started back winning. I love the city of Sacramento. That’s where I want to be. End of story.”
The fast improving Cousins has courted trouble in his short stint with the Kings already. He had a falling out with former coach Paul Westphal, which led to DeMarcus being benched and ultimately Westphal being fired from the job.
Cousins enjoys a good relationship with new coach Keith Smart, under whom his numbers have gone up significantly. He wasn’t therefore expecting rumours about a departure to surface soon, but they have persisted, especially in light of Andrew Bynum, the Los
Angeles Lakers centre, weighing in on the issue.
DeMarcus though maintains that he has nothing to do with such talk and all the reports in the media are inaccurate, because he simply wants to stay where he is.
“We can dig a hole, throw that topic in there, cover it with dirt, pack it down. I want to be in Sacramento. End of story.’’
The stability DeMarcus has enjoyed recently has no doubt played a part in improving his fortunes, as well as his team’s. There is one more factor in this ongoing success story that the young Cousins wants everyone to know about.
Former Sacramento Kings power forward Chris Webber, who is currently a TV analyst, has been giving Cousins a lot of advice and support, something that the latter is thankful for.
“I have the utmost respect for C-Web, he’s a real person,’’ Cousins said. “He just gives me advice, tells me how to handle situations. He went through similar situations so of course he has advice for me.’’
DeMarcus has turned into a reliable double-double machine for the Kings already. His talent wasn’t in doubt since the day he entered the NBA. Now that his attitude is getting better, he looks like the potential star he was once projected to be.
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