Source: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty
As the NBA continues to make strides to be more inclusive and less tolerant of ignorance in its arenas, yet another player has come forward to speak on the racist insults hurled at them in an arena.
Golden State Warrior DeMarcus Cousins, who is never one to hold his tongue, recently talked to Chris Haynes on Yahoo’s Posted Up video podcast. There, he admitted to saying “Fuck Golden State,” before he was a member of the title-defending squad, after some fans had some not-so-nice comments directed at him. But, it gets a bit more serious when Cousins reveals that he’s been called the N-word on a number of occasions; comparing his situation to Russell Westbrook’s.
“Oh, I’ve been called n****r,” he said to Yahoo. “And it’s crazy because this has happened to me on a few occasions. I reported it to the league, and, you know, I may have said whatever I said back and I was still punished for it. But obviously it became a bigger issue when it was Russ [Westbrook], and he was still fined for it. I don’t really understand it. We’re the product. We push this league, so I don’t understand. When does our safety, when does it become important?”
Haynes went on to ask what arena and city this happened in, but Cousins decided to keep that information to himself so as to not trash an entire fan base.
The debate of race and NBA was once again brought into the limelight because Russell Westbrook was told by a Utah Jazz fan to “get down on your knees like you’re used to.” The fan was ultimately banned for life, while Westbrook was fined $25,000 for threatening violence against the fan and his wife.
Elsewhere in the interview, Boogie reveals his true feeling about the media, other encounters he’s had with fans, and what it’s like playing in the postseason for the first time.
DeMarcus Cousins Says He’s Been Called the N-Word by Fans was originally published on cassiuslife.com
