Hassan Whiteside is a sensation at the moment, but DeMarcus Cousins isn’t a big fan thanks to an incident back during their days together with the Kings.
Prior to this year’s breakout season, Miami’s Hassan Whiteside was a journeyman who played for a few different teams.
In his stint with the Sacramento Kings, the team that drafted him, he once got into a fight with DeMarcus Cousins, he told USA Today’s Sam Amick.
Anecdote not in story: Whiteside confirmed a tale I'd heard about a practice fight he had w/ DeMarcus Cousins during Keith Smart days in Sac
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) February 6, 2015
Amick continued the anecdote in a series of tweets:
Whiteside:"The coaches told me to get in a certain spot, & I just kind of subbed in b/c (Cousins) kind of left. It was a little altercation"
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) February 6, 2015
Whiteside shocked folks that day w/ how he handled himself: " "Even after that incident, coach Smart was like, 'Don’t take mess from nobody"
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) February 6, 2015
Hassan wouldn't get into details or confirm that it was one-sided, but did note, "And back then, (Cousins) had me by like 60 pounds."
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) February 6, 2015
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This anecdote was part of a larger story by Amick on Whiteside’s season, which can be found here.
Whiteside is in the middle of a breakout season for the Miami Heat, while Cousins is an All-Star for the Kings.
Whiteside, 25, was drafted 33rd overall by the Kings in 2010 out of Marshall, but struggled to catch on and spent most of his time in the D-League. The Kings waived him in 2012, and he played a season in China, had a short stint with the Grizzlies, and played for several more D-League teams before signing with the Heat on Nov. 24 and being unexpectedly successful. Averaging 9.1 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.
Cousins has become known almost as much for his various antics as he is for his play. In 2011, then-coach Paul Westphal sent him home, saying that Cousins was “unwilling/unable to embrace traveling in the same direction as his team,” and he was suspended indefinitely by the team in 2012. He has also punched the Rockets’ Patrick Beverly, and confronted Spurs commentator Sean Elliott “in a hostile manner.” We can just add this story to the ever-growing list.
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