DeMarcus Cousins was ejected from Sunday’s showdown between the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets after a particularly aggressive foul on LeBron James.
Cousins was first called for a technical foul with 2:15 remaining in the first quarter for getting into a shoving match with Markieff Morris.
Shortly thereafter, Cousins was called for a flagrant foul 2 for hitting James in the head. It was that sequence of events that has some clamoring for the big man to be suspended.
Fortunately, James emerged fine from the play. It would appear that after surviving a deranged threat from a crazy fan, the Lakers superstar can withstand pretty much everything at this point.
Boogie gets ejected after a hard foul on LeBron. pic.twitter.com/nZ1VzqdoQj
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 11, 2021
After the game, Houston Rockets head coach Stephen Silas said that Cousins’ Flagrant 2 was a “judgment call.”
The Bucks owner’s daughter decided to bring 2021 in with a bang by stripping all her clothes off. https://t.co/UgzhEEna4o
— Game 7 (@game7__) January 7, 2021
“The [flagrant 2], when he hit LeBron in the face or whatever, that’s a judgment call,” he said, per ESPN. “Or I don’t even know if it’s a judgment call; it comes from the replay booth. You’re just going to have to live with it. But him sticking up for his teammate shows a lot of who DeMarcus Cousins is.”
Ultimately, the Lakers ended up winning Sunday’s showdown 120-102.
It’s unlikely that Cousins’ play will cause any bad blood between him and James.
The two were teammates in 2019, when the Lakers signed Cousins in hopes of pairing him with Anthony Davis in the front court. Unfortunately, he tore the ACL in his left knee during a pick-up game and never actually ended up playing.
O.J. has a simple question for America. https://t.co/w1ucZarCdF
— Game 7 (@game7__) January 9, 2021
LA ended up waiving Cousins last February and adding Morris in his place.
Cousins, meanwhile, signed a one-year, $2.3 million deal with Houston this past offseason.
As of Monday morning, the league has yet to announce whether Cousins will be subject to any further punishment for Sunday’s happenings.
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A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
