The Mavericks won easily against the Kings Monday night. After a run of 19 unanswered points in the first half, Dallas never really looked back. All of which makes it easier to focus on what happened a little bit later, with the Kings down 27, when DeMarcus Cousins took a cheap shot at Mavericks guard O.J. Mayo.
DeMarcus Cousins takes a cheap shot and O.J. Mayo shoots back in the media
DeMarcus Cousins looked like he took a cheap shot at O.J. Mayo during Monday’s Mavericks game, and afterward, O.J. Mayo took some shots of his own.
Ronald Martinez
“It wasn’t intentional, but there was a lot of trash talk,” Cousins said afterward. The play ended with a double technical for Mayo and Cousins.
Mayo’s reaction? More from ESPN Dallas:
Mayo said he told Cousins to “play basketball and you’ve got a chance to be a good player,” but that type of conduct made him a “garbage player.”
“That guy has some mental issues, man,” Mayo said. “He’s a talented player. He has an opportunity to be the face of that organization, but I don’t think he wants it. ... He’s immature, man. Big maturity problem. Hopefully, he’ll grow up out of it and become great. He definitely has the talent to.”
Later in the game, Cousins also got into a verbal altercation with Dallas coach Rick Carlise. So yes, in case you were worried about the lack of DeMarcus Cousins controversies the past few weeks, Boogie is still hurdling through space at a thousand miles an hour. Everything Mayo said would have plenty of league executives nodding around the league.
So: Does DeMarcus have “mental issues”? Maybe, maybe not. He plays hard in a lot of meaningless Kings games, so maybe he looks crazy just because he cares. Then again, it’s never, ever cool to punch someone in the nuts and let’s be honest, that play looked kinda intentional.
Either way: if O.J. Mayo’s gotten to the point where he can question another player’s maturity without irony, there’s gotta be hope for Boogie, right?
