Okay, so let's see where we are...
DeMarcus Cousins, one of the surliest, most immature rookies in NBA history, now blatantly hates the fact that Tyreke Evans is the team's go-to guy.
Tyreke Evans, filled with too much confidence fueled by a team's decision to make him the savior of the franchise, is not about to give up the role.
And Geoff Petrie, the most overrated decision maker in the league, has been given distinct orders not to make any trade that would cause the team to take on a dollar more in salary.
I'd say things are pretty much screwed for the Kings.
It's too bad, because the team had been playing a more improved brand of basketball of late.
But when word leaked out the Cousins had berated and possibly come to blows with Donte Greene because he hadn't gotten the ball in the final moments of the game against the Thunder, it just spoke volumes about what's important to many of the players on the team.
It's easy to know what Cousins is feeling. His emotions flash across his face like a beacon. And it's easy to tell that the most important thing in his life is being the most important player on the court. This is fine, except that he hates when other people take that role -- even briefly.
I've seen Cousins react with disdain when another player followed up one of his missed shots with a basket. It was all about his miss rather than the team scoring. He's happy on the bench only when he's having a stellar game. Otherwise, he could care less about his teammates.
As for Tyreke, well, Tyreke is Tyreke. He is incredibly skilled but he's not a smart player. At least right now. He leads the league in leaving his feet and tossing off awful, misguided passes. He has been coached for two years to be Kobe Bryant, but he is not even close. Why does everyone keep wondering why the final five minutes of every game become a stagnant, ball-pounding misadventure?
I heard ESPN's Bill Simmons mention the other day that the talk around the league is that Evans is a tough guy to play with. Not because he's a bad teammate, but simply because he demands the ball, dominates the ball and doesn't make his teammates an ounce better.
Is it coaching? Or are these two guys just inherently self-centered?
Who knows? But it is about time for Paul Westphal to show some balls and publicly announce that he will not stand for players who don't buy into the team concept. If you don't share the ball and care about your teammates, you sit. It's about winning, not personal stats. Period.
So what do the Kings do?
Trade one? Trade both? Start over?
For me, I like watching unselfish, team basketball.
Give me players who pass the ball and don't care whether they can strut up and down the court and point at themselves.
Maybe that's too much to ask in this era of Jersey Shore entitlement.
And maybe it would be different if the Kings were winning.
But the team is awful.
And watching this mess unfold is just sad.
