DeMarcus Cousins: Warriors star fires NBA referee shots after throwing SHOE into crowd
DEMARCUS COUSINS raised eyebrows during the Golden State Warriors’ win over the Charlotte Hornets, as he threw a loose shoe into the crowd and handed a bizarre technical foul.
Cousins scored 24 points in 31 minutes in the win, and clocked up 11 rebounds.
However, his night turned sour during the fourth quarter when he picked up a technical foul.
Having just spent a year out of action due to a ruptured Achilles, Cousins is desperate to avoid any further injuries in his career.
And with just four minutes to play in Charlotte, he saw a potential banana skin, as Hornets star Jeremy Lamb’s shoe fell off mid-play.
Acting quickly, Cousins picked up the shoe and tossed it to the sidelines, in order to ensure neither he or any other player fell over it and injured themselves.
But the referees didn’t see the incident the same way, and stuck by the decision to give him a technical foul.
Cousins was livid, and was seen shouting at officials, while a member of the NBC commentary team noted: “I hope that’s one that the league will rescind.”
Speaking after the game, Cousins spurned his aggressive response, and took a sarcastic approach to the incident.
DeMarcus Cousins shouldn't have gotten a technical. Simply looking out for player's safety with a loss shoe. My guy always unfairly targeted by refs pic.twitter.com/5rAz14qC6Z
— Bobby Reagan (@BarstoolReags) February 26, 2019
He sarcastically informed the refereeing team that he would leave the shoe next time, even if it meant re-injury.
“Next time I’ll just step on it,” he said.
“I’ll roll my ankle, break it, tear an Achilles.
“I’ll just leave it out there next time.
“I guess that’s what they want, I’ll keep that in mind.
“Basically, you can’t throw a shoe.”
Cousins’ team-mate Steph Curry suggested that Cousins may have thrown the shoe too hard, as it ended up in the second row rather than just on the sidelines.
The center replied to that claim simply, by saying: “I don’t know, man.”
The Warriors are now 43-17 for the season and sit top of the West. They take on the Miami Heat next time out.