O.J. Mayo was ticked when DeMarcus Cousins elbowed him below the belt — because all guys are ticked or worse when we get hit there. Cousins said it wasn’t intentional, but Mayo fired shots at him postgame, saying, “”That guy has some mental issues, man…. He’s immature, man. Big maturity problem.”
Cousins responded, speaking with the Sacramento Bee.
“I heard,” Cousins said. “This coming from a guy that doesn’t have a great image himself. So what does his really mean? I’m fine with it.”
Cousins has point. As a pro Mayo has gotten in fights with Tony Allen over a gambling debt, been suspended 10 games for violating the league’s drug policy, and he used to publicly complain about his role on what was a playoff team in Memphis. In college he was involved in a recruiting scandal that caused USC to have to vacate all its wins for a season.
So, maybe we can both agree that they have both been immature and move on to the next point — Mayo said Cousins could be a franchise player but doesn’t want it.
“Is he a franchise player?” Cousins said. “So how is he going to tell me what I am?”
Mayo is a lot closer to a franchise player this year in Dallas than he has been any year of his career. But no GM is banking on him as a franchise guy.
But they are not banking on Cousins, either, not right now. Because they are not sure if his pride and ego will continue to get in his own way (like going out to yell at a Spurs broadcaster who called you out during a game). Cousins may get there, he is closer than Mayo, but pride goes before the fall.
So are we done now with two immature guys sniping at each other?