DeMarcus Cousins Attempts to Intimidate Reporter

DeMarcus Cousins didn't like what columnist Andy Furillo wrote, so the star attempted to scare the writer in the locker room.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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If most people don't like a newspaper column, they may complain about it to their friends, or perhaps write a letter to the editor. Sacramento Kings star DeMarcus Cousins, however, decided to go quite a few steps beyond that when he yelled at and attempted to physically intimidate Sacramento Bee columnist Andy Furillo, as you can see in the footage above.

Furillo wrote a column published earlier in the month that discussed a lawsuit aimed at Cousins and his teammate Matt Barnes. The suit accuses the players of choking a woman and punching her boyfriend. Towards the end of the piece, Furillo mentions an incident at a Tampa nightclub in May with Cousins and his brother Jaleel, a college basketball star, that ended with Jaleel being Tazed and arrested as the elder brother escaped. The incident received press coverage at the time, including on TMZ and plenty of other places.

Despite the fact that the May incident was big news, DeMarcus did not take well to Furillo mentioning it in his column. Monday was the first time Cousins saw the writer since the column was published, and he did not mince words. 

Cousins stormed over to Furillo and got right in his face. "You're gonna have some real fucking issues," Cousins said. "Don't ever mention my brother again. You don't know my fucking brother." After being pulled away by Garrett Temple and waved off by a team spokesman, Cousins called the writer a "fucking coward" and then unleashed one more volley. "You can say whatever the fuck you want to say about me, but don't mention my motherfucking family," Cousins said. 

The Kings released a statement on Thursday about Cousins' attempt at media intimidation. “We are committed to being open and transparent, and any hint of media censorship is unacceptable,” it said. “There is an ongoing review into this matter, and we will take the appropriate steps immediately upon its conclusion.”

John Robbins, president of the Professional Basketball Writers Association, found Cousins' outburst "disturbing." 

"Professional reporters or columnists and the people they cover will not always agree on what is written or broadcast," he said in a statement. "But each side should treat the other with mutual respect and professionalism. An overwhelming number of NBA players—maybe 99.9 percent—treat the professional news media admirably."

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