Rockets big man DeMarcus Cousins was ejected after picking up a second technical foul Monday night, but the T that got him tossed — and the reasoning behind it — looks really ticky-tack.
It's almost as if the officials had no patience with a player who has been a pain to them.
Cousins was rung up in the second quarter against the Mavericks for holding out his arms and expressing disbelief that he didn't get an and-one on a layup.
Boogie gets his first ejection of the year. pic.twitter.com/QVuCj3HuFO
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 5, 2021
Officiating crew chief John Goble put it this way to pool reporter Jonathan Feigen after the game: "DeMarcus Cousins received a technical foul for an overt gesture directed at an official in resentment of a non-call."
MORE: Ronnie 2K gets crushed online for insulting DeMarcus Cousins before Players Tournament
In other words, for doing what players across the Association do dozens of times a game without sanction.
The first T wasn't much more deserved, either, to be honest. Cousins shoved Dallas center Willie Cauley-Stein, who was tangling with John Wall under the basket. It looked as though Cousins was being a peacemaker before getting in a shot on fellow Kentucky product Cauley-Stein.
Boogie and Willie Cauley-Stein getting chippy.
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 5, 2021
Double techs pic.twitter.com/Z9hOJlHjP1
Did Cousins' history of techs and ejections and complaints about being singled out by officials tip the scales of basketball justice in these instances? Nothing can be proved, but it does look as if he was sent to the showers mostly for being Boogie.
