Sounds of Thunder: DeMarcus Cousins thinks not playing on ESPN and TNT cost him a start in the All Star Game

I thought I would go for a change of pace and dip my toe into something other than Thunder basketball today. The reason for that is simple. I read an article on Yahoo Sports this morning about DeMarcus Cousins whining about the fans not voting him onto the All-Star team. I don't like DeMarcus Cousins.... and I'm not alone.

Cousins thinks he didn't get voted to the All-Star team because he doesn't get showcased on ESPN and TNT every night. I beg to differ.

Based on the voting, very few fans, outside the Sacramento Kings circle, like this guy and for good reason. His nickname is "Boogie," but he will always just be the "Booger Man" as far as I am concerned and my nickname is nice compared to some others I have seen around the world wide web.

(yeh, I like "True Grit", one of the best western movies ever)

Sure, Cousins is productive on the court, there is no denying that, but he is also destructive as well. Technicals galore and suspensions by both the Kings and the NBA. Confronting 44 year old Sean Elliot "in a hostile manner" for calling a bully... a bully... thus proving Elliot's claim and earning himself a two game suspension in the process was self-fulfilling, but Cousins then proved Elliot right again when he punched 6'1" guard Patrick Beverly in the stomach and earned another league mandated game vacation.

Here are just a few of Cousins "finer" moments:

Pay particular attention to who Cousins will and will not face up with. Evidently when Zach Randolph was clearly asking to party, Cousins wanted no part of it and waited on a chaperon before bowing up. Aging retired players, guards, and referees are more the 6'11" 270 pound Cousin's speed, and that by definition is a bully. Look it up.

People don't like bullies. I don't think the bully has ever won a popularity contest, and that is exactly what the All Star voting is primarily about- popularity. As far back as I can remember, the fans have always voted for each team's starting five and my memory goes back much farther than Booger's....erm Boogie's 26 years on this planet, so let's add "not the sharpest knife in the drawer" as one of his shortcomings as well.

Point being, if you want to start in the All Star game, the first order of business is to not be a frigging bully. (original comment censored for family reading) Brian Bosworth was possibly the greatest linebacker that ever donned a college football jersey, but it took 30 years for the College Football Hall of Fame to get past the fact that during his time in Crimson 'N Cream he was a complete asshole. (sorry, but when the shoe fits..) This is neither earth shaking news or unrealized by the man himself.

The 'Boz' was not a good human being and Bosworth will be the first person to tell you that. He was blessed with talent and passion, but he totally lacked humility and was unappreciative toward his teammates, his coaches, the media, and his fans. But in my opinion, even that pales to what Barry Switzer wrote in his autobiography, "The Bootlegger's Boy:"

"He strutted around Norman like he owned the place, both stiffing and intimidating people... The Boz was an obnoxious, overbearing loudmouth and deadbeat."

(emphasis mine)

That's a bully, and it took turning his life completely around and 30 years for the College Football Hall of Fame to forgive Bosworth for it:

"I have had a very heavy heart, I think the Hall of Fame is something that not only has to consider the merits of what you do on the field, but I think it's also a consideration of the character you are off the field.

They want people in there who represent the purity and the passion of college football in the right way. And I wasn't there. I'm glad it took the time, because I wouldn't have appreciated the award during the years that I was angry. It's an honor and it's humbled me the way that it has come."

Brian Bosworth, January 2015

That is what Cousins just doesn't get. You can be the best player out there (which he may be). You can play with passion and fire, but if you come off like some overbearing ogre from fan's childhood nightmares you will be watching the All-Star tip-off every year. Cousins' arrogance is such that he is completely convinced that the coaches will punch his ticket to Toronto like they did in 2015. I sincerely hope he is wrong.

Cousins dropped 3 notches from his spot in 2015 to number 10 and received 100,000 fewer votes. There are only 3 guaranteed front court spots available with 2 maybe spots for either front or backcourt players for the coaches to vote for. That's 5 possible spots and DeMarcus had 6 players that received more fan votes than he did in the front court alone, 9 players total.

(Just a little reminder to NBA coaches before they cast their ballots and slap the faces of the very fans that pay their salaries. Now go ahead boys, vote your little hearts out.)

Any wonder now why Cousins is demanding that the All Star team not be based upon fan voting? Does he really believe that the millions of basketball fans that took the time to vote for the starters in this meaningless exhibition game don't know who, and more importantly what, DeMarcus Cousins is?

Sure they do, and this latest ridiculous tirade demanding their voices not be heard and insulting their integrity is not ingratiating either their favor, or earning more of those 400,000 votes he needed this year. The truth of the matter is this, not being exposed on ESPN and TNT may very well be the only reason Cousins got as many votes as he did.

If DeMarcus Cousins wants to start in the All Star game, then practicing the anti-bullying message he espouses in his annual youth camp rather than just paying it lip service would be a good beginning. Walking that increasingly more important walk will garner more respect and more lifelong satisfaction for Cousins than starting in any All Star game ever will.