Meyers Leonard: Cousins' antics are 'disrespectful, out of line'

The rivalry no one saw coming between DeMarcus Cousins and Portland Trail Blazers big man Meyers Leonard is well-documented, and you can add another chapter to that book Tuesday night.

With 35 seconds left in the game, after an impressive spinning and-1, Cousins celebrated emphatically by jawing at the Blazers bench, effectively launching his mouthguard in their direction in the process. The saliva-covered projectile landed right at the feet of Leonard, who looked on in bewilderment.

Being Cousins' intended target of the assault obviously caused the Blazers center to take offence.

"He's a very skilled player, had a very good game, but his antics are over the top," Leonard lamented to The Oregonian's Mike Richman. "He's disrespectful, out of line, the list of words could go on. I can't respect someone like that."

Cousins would be issued a technical foul for this act - his second of the game at that point - but that tech would later be called back by the referee, who initially thought he intentionally threw it at Portland's bench. Cousins would return after a brief mad dash to the locker room to tear up anything in his path, making the free-throw and eventually leading his team to a 126-121 victory.

During his postgame interview, Cousins was visibly shaken and frustrated with how the whole situation played out, but Leonard thinks he doesn't have a right to be.

"I saw some comment from him about the world needs to see that this is ridiculous," Leonard continued. "No, it's not ridiculous. He did it to himself and that's the truth. And people need to know that."

Tune in to Part 3 of this rivalry when the Blazers host the Kings on Dec. 28th.