Sarcastic applause helps earn DeMarcus Cousins a 1-game suspension
For the second time in three seasons, Sacramento Kings All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins will serve an automatic one-game suspension after accruing more than 15 technical fouls.
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The NBA made it official Thursday evening that the 25-year-old Cousins will sit out the Kings’ Friday meeting with the Miami Heat after picking up his 16th technical foul of the season in the closing seconds of Sacramento’s 120-111 win over the visiting Washington Wizards at Sleep Train Arena on Thursday:
With just 6.7 seconds remaining and the Kings holding a 14-point lead, Sacramento point guard Rajon Rondo committed an inbounds violation, throwing the ball in from the baseline after a dunk by Wizards rookie Kelly Oubre Jr. without having it handed to him by an official. The refs promptly whistled him for the violation, after which Rondo and Cousins both decided it would be wise to offer a sarcastic round of applause to the officiating crew for the diligent adherence to the rule book.
Kings’ Rajon Rondo & DeMarcus Cousins get technical fouls for the simultaneous sarcastic clap at referee Marc Davis pic.twitter.com/osfOheS7Qg
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) March 31, 2016
Referee Marc Davis didn’t much care for that, and quickly T’d up both Rondo and Cousins. It was Rondo’s second T of the game, earning him an automatic ejection; it was Cousins’ first of the evening, but his league-leading 16th of the season, which carries with it a $5,000 fine and an automatic one-game suspension. That was one costly clap, DeMarcus:
Total $ lost on DeMarcus Cousins T’s, $50k for 16 techs + $144k in one game of pay docked.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) March 31, 2016
The final-seconds whistles put a damper on what had been a pretty awesome night for the Kings, who shot 56 percent as a team en route to their 30th win of the season — Sacramento’s highest win total since 2008.
“It was a good night until towards the end,” Cousins said after the game, according to Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. “It was unfortunate that it happened. I really don’t know what to say. I don’t know.”
Well, I think I do. Congratulations, gents, on creating a tonally perfect encapsulation of the Sacramento Kings in 2015-16 — a team that couldn’t even reach the low expectation of 30 wins without finding a way to make it into a weird bummer, and a season that finally got the sarcastic round of applause it has long deserved.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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