On Wednesday night a Kings team minus star DeMarcus Cousins beat a Bucks team that’s struggled to reach last year’s levels of defensive dominance. Jason Kidd was ejected for getting slap happy with the ball in a ref’s hands. But — even though Cousins was out — he still found a way to get embroiled in an incident with Bucks reserve, O.J. Mayo.
By way of CBS Sports’ Eye on Basketball Blog comes second-hand news of what went down, with a source telling the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel‘s estimable Charles Gardner there was some “jawing” in the tunnel to the locker room, but that “no punches were thrown.”
Also — as CBS also mentions — Mayo can be seen looking at Cousins and pointing to the locker room right as the game ends.
There was video captured by the CSN Bay Area feed of the game that appears to show Mayo and Cousins taking their on-court disagreement to the the tunnel.
https://twitter.com/MantaSidhwan/status/669728582655062016
Here are more updates about the off-court tiff from Gardner:
Wild finish at Bradley Center and security and police all over halls after game. Bucks players escorted O.J. Mayo to his car, source said.
— cfgardner (@cf_gardner) November 26, 2015
Source indicated jawing between teams in the tunnel and hallway. No punches thrown, he said.
— cfgardner (@cf_gardner) November 26, 2015
Plenty of jawing between sides as teams exited. Jerryd Bayless would not say if he was having conversation with DeMarcus Cousins.
— cfgardner (@cf_gardner) November 26, 2015
As Matt Moore pointed out at CBS, Mayo and Cousins have a history. In a 2012 game, Cousins appears to hit Mayo in the groin as the two scuffle for rebounding position before a shot.
https://media.giphy.com/media/26tPv3ZbbnIT3GQjm/giphy.gif
Mayo later said Cousins, “has some issues.”
The Associated Press recap after Wednesday’s game acknowledged there was some back and forth in the hallway directly after the game ended, but specifics were lacking from Jerryd Bayless and John Henson. Though most saw Mayo-Cousins confrontation on the court before they exited to the hallway.
Immediately after the game, Kings and Bucks players could be heard shouting at each other in a hallway leading to the locker rooms. Several police officers were positioned in the area a short time later.
Many of the Milwaukee players left the arena before reporters were allowed into the locker room and those who remained, along with Kidd, shed little light on the situation but admitted that frustrations mounted throughout the game over the officiating and the team’s poor play on defense.
[…]
Bucks forward John Henson denied knowing what led to the post-game confrontation, but it appeared as though O.J. Mayo of the Bucks and Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins confronted each other on the court as the game ended.
“I was just trying to help my teammate get off the court,” Henson said.
Milwaukee’s Jerryd Bayless also tried to downplay the post-game incident.
“It’s basketball. It happens. You move on,” Bayless said.
When asked if Cousins exchanged words with him in the hallway, Bayless said: “I don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention.”
Tensions were high on both sides because of the officiating as the game wore on. Kidd had already been ejected, so Milwaukee’s sideline leader wasn’t there to stop the nonsense that appeared to continue into the tunnel. It sounds like the disagreement stopped short of blows, which would have likely led to some suspensions and fines, but this isn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last, that on-court issues spill out into the causeway leading back to the locker rooms.
(EOB)
