DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings forward player, was suspended for hitting Al Horford from Atlanta Hawks.
Cousins apparently elbowed Horford in the jaw which cause the suspension given by the National Basketball Association (NBA), as reported by ESPN. Cousins told the reported that the incident was a reaction after getting hit by Horford in his neck and collarbone.
According to Yahoo! Sports, the NBA Executive Vice President for Basketball Operations, Kiki VanDeWeghe, announced the suspension that took place with two minutes remainingin the first quarter, then losing to Atlanta with the score 103 - 97.
Tim Reynolds from Associated Press said that Cousins will be serving his suspension when Sacramento Kings face Miami Heat at the American Airlines Arena, which is reported by Bleacher Report.
Miami Heat won against Kings with the score of 116 - 109. According to Heat's coach Erik Spoelstra, the team (Kings) were missing a major part of what they do. Hassan Whiteside also commented that he would have liked to complete against Cousins. They played together as teammates with the Kings for two seasons in 2010 to 2012. It was a huge loss for Kings.
This wasn't the first run in of Cousins with NBA. Last season, he garnered 16 technical fouls and asked NBS to rescind a technical foul so that he won't get the automatic suspension. Aside from this, Cousins was also suspended and was fined $20,000 in February because he punched Patrick Beverley of the Houston Rockets in the stomach then verbally abusing an official. Three suspensions were also received by Cousins two seasons ago, one was after he shouted at Keith Smart in the locker room while lossing to Los Angeles Clippers.
Cousins' average is 27.5 points and 11 rebounds this season, which is pretty good, aside from having a 6'11" height. So getting suspended (again) can give a negative impact for his team.
