DeMarcus Cousins and Meyers Leonard have the weirdest beef in the NBA

You don’t see real beef in the NBA anymore. Sure, guys get into tussles every now and then, but rarely do you see two players spewing venom towards each other every time they take the court.

DeMarcus Cousins and Meyers Leonard have made it cool not to be cool on the court. The two Western Conference big men see each other again on Wednesday night in a Kings-Trail Blazers matchup that now has playoff implications with Portland’s six-game losing slump and Sacramento’s four-game winning streak. A win by either team secures the head-to-head tiebreaker and could prove crucial in the race for the No. 8 seed.

But this beef didn’t materialize overnight. No, Cousins and Leonard’s gripes date back well before their altercation earlier this month.

“Things have happened, clearly,” Leonard told reporters Tuesday from the Blazers’ practice facility. “I don’t know what it is about me that he doesn’t like, but, honestly, there’s nothing I can do about that. It’s my job to go out there and compete and make it hard on him.”

But while Portland’s big man would like to believe he doesn’t have much of a history with Cousins, it all started when Boogie, much like Draymond Green, just couldn’t control his feet.

The Trail Blazers hold a 15-point third-quarter lead over the Kings in a meaningless game. Leonard catches the ball on the wing and attempts a mid-range jumper on the elbow. Naturally, Cousins contests his shot, only this time, he inadvertently slides underneath an airborne Leonard.

Leonard lands on Cousins’ foot and turns his ankle. He hobbles off the court and into the locker room before returning later in the third quarter. That’s when Boogie does it again, sliding underneath Leonard’s feet while contesting a baseline jump shot.

Portland’s big man is visibly irate and argues for a call. This is the second time Cousins had escaped after making a dangerous defensive play, yet no whistle was blown. Little did Leonard know that this was only the beginning of what would become a continuing feud.

Tempers don’t flare — at least not yet. Starting center Mason Plumlee stews on the bench with five fouls, so in comes Leonard, who proceeds to establish himself firmly as the defensive stopper Cousins later claims he isn’t.

Leonard holds Boogie to just two made field goals on nine attempts while the Trail Blazers continue on to hold off the Kings, 98-94. It’s his tough, physical defense that keeps Cousins out of rhythm in the game’s final period.

Portland’s big man decisively outplays the Kings All-Star. Though Leonard only scores nine points, his Trail Blazers win, 112-97, and outscore Sacramento by 16 with him on the floor. Moreover, Leonard splits a defensive effort that holds Boogie to just 17 points on 4-of-21 shooting.

He compliments Boogie after the game, per Oregonlive.com, calling him “very good player, able to score in many ways — down on the block, on the perimeter.” But Leonard thought he and his team did a good job defensively on Cousins.

Boogie disagrees, vehemently.

“I could tell what their scheme was: to try to frustrate me,” he said, according to The Oregonian. “Meyers whatever you say it — yeah, Leonard — took advantage of the situation a little bit more. If you want to credit them, go ahead. A lot of shots didn’t fall.

“I’m not giving him that much credit,” he said of Leonard. “He’s not even a defender.”

It’s midway through the first quarter of Portland’s 122-120 overtime win over Sacramento, and it starts getting chippy between the two centers.

First a shoving match happens during a physical battle on the boards.

On the very next possession, under the guise of boxing out, Boogie gets away with a slicing elbow across Leonard’s throat.

Finally, Leonard has enough. On the next possession, he retaliates when Cousins bumps and shoves him while running up court.

The two get assessed double technical fouls and play goes on. Cousins scores 33 points and drills three three-pointers, but Portland gets the win and Leonard sneaks past Boogie for a poster dunk on Omri Casspi.

You can sort of call this one a tie.

On Dec. 20, Cousins obliterates Portland at home, scoring 55 points (17-of-28 shooting) in a 126-121 Kings win.

But in a bizarre fourth quarter sequence, he’s ejected then un-ejected for what appeared to be spitting his mouthpiece in the direction of Leonard, who was sitting on the bench.

The referees later rescinded Cousins’ second technical foul and called him back from the locker room. Leonard, who did not score and picked up five fouls in 19 minutes, said after the game that Boogie directed vulgar, out-of-line comments in his direction during the sequence.

“He deserved to be out of the game for what he did,” Leonard told reporters. “He’s a very skilled player, had a very good game. But his antics are over the top. He’s disrespectful, out of line. I mean, the list of words could go on. I can’t respect someone like that.

“I don’t know that he spit his mouthpiece at me, but his mouthpiece came out of his mouth when he was screaming and yelling at me, and it was right next to me.”

A cheery Cousins addresses the media after the game — on the same day he was assessed a $50,000 fine for a verbal altercation with a local columnist. During his interview, a reporter asks him about his matchup with Leonard.

His response: “Who is that?”

When the reporter provides clarification, Boogie says, “Oh that guy? He’s caught up in the hype.”

Cousins then goes on to praise Leonard’s teammate, Mason Plumlee, whom he played against throughout high school.

It’s Dec. 28, the last of the three Portland-Sacramento matchups this season. The Kings (14-17) have climbed up the Western Conference ladder to take firm control of the eighth seed the Trail Blazers (13-20) once held.

The two teams have tied the season series at one apiece.

After telling reporters he didn’t have a history with Cousins, Leonard now says they have a short one.

Wednesday, in all likelihood, will be the last time the two teams meet this season. The restricted area might serve as the Octagon on Wednesday as the two heavyweight centers tussle it out underneath the bucket.

Boogie and the Kings want to extend their winning streak to five. Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers want to snap their six-game skid, and Leonard will be a part of the effort against Cousins. So, even though Raptors-Warriors tips off at 10:30 p.m., be ready to switch back and forth, because there very well could be fireworks.