Cousins getting on well with Joerger: 'I like him and he likes me'
After a year-and-a-half of nonstop turmoil with now-former head coach George Karl, mercurial Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins is happy just to be on solid footing with the team's new bench boss.
Cousins, who is onto his sixth coach in just his seventh season in the NBA, was asked after the Kings' opening-night win over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday to list some positive things about Dave Joerger. He cut right to the chase.
"I like him, and he likes me," Cousins told Brett Pollakoff of FOX Sports.
Maybe that's all it takes.
It's been a rocky six years for Cousins and the Kings, and the All-Star's clashes with coaches have often been at the center of the team's dysfunction. Perhaps the only one he seemed to have truly built a mutual trust with, Mike Malone, was fired just 24 games into the 2014-15 season.
With Joerger and Cousins copacetic, perhaps the Kings can finally unlock their potential - or, at the very least, play through a full season without being embroiled in some manner of internal drama.