In Monday night’s game against the Chicago Bulls, with just 1.1 seconds remaining, the Sacramento Kings’ DeMarcus Cousins picked up a technical foul by yelling at an official. With that ill-advised burst of emotion, Cousins set a dubious record: he received his 16th technical of the season earlier than any other player since a 2006-07 NBA rule change, beating Dwight Howard’s previous record by nearly a month.
By picking up his 16th tech, Cousins earned himself an automatic suspension for Wednesday’s game against the Boston Celtics plus a $5,000 fine. On top of that, from now until the end of the season, he’ll face a one-game suspension for every two technical fouls he receives.
Somehow, this incident wasn’t even his lowest moment of the game for Boogie. That happened just a quarter earlier when Cousins picked up his 15th technical foul by pushing Bulls assistant coach Jim Boylen. And all of this came just two days after Cousins celebrated a 109-106 upset victory over the Golden State Warriors by flipping off an opposing fan and yelling “fuck Golden State.” He was also fined for that, although it obviously wasn’t in the same league as actually being in a physical altercation.
For most players, this series of actions, and the subsequent negative headlines, would be their season’s low-point, but for Cousins and his history of poor decision making and questionable judgment, it’s par for the course. At age 26, right around the time when most players are maturing, Cousins continues to be the same brilliant but frustrating player he has always been. (None of his behavior, apparently, will prevent the Kings from offering him a $200m+ contract extension, despite the growing sense that both parties would benefit from parting ways.)
As impulsive and demonstrative as he can be, though, Cousins will surely never match the record for the most technical fouls in a season, a record held by Rasheed Wallace. Currently Cousins is on pace to pick up 25 technicals, which would be a fairly ridiculous total by itself but pales in comparison to Wallace’s 2000-01 total of 41.
Yes, 41. In the span of 80 games.
Wallace’s “achievement” is considered one of the most unbreakable records in all of sports and it was no aberration. From 1999 onward, Wallace holds the top four spots on the list of most technical fouls in a season before Antoine Walker pops up in fifth place for collecting a mere 23 in his 2002-03 season with the Boston Celtics. As far as career totals? Wallace is number one with 317, shattering the record previously set by Dennis Rodman and his measly 212. With numbers like these, it’s little wonder that the NBA even informally named a foul after Wallace.
While one wouldn’t think that these accomplishments, for lack of a better term, would reflect well on a player, Wallace’s astonishing knack for picking up techs seems downright impressive now that he’s no longer in the league. It’s difficult not to discuss his legendary season with the Portland Trail Blazers without a certain amount of awe. There’s something to be said when you’re that much better than the competition at something, even if that something isn’t anything remotely positive.
So, yes, Wallace is basically the Barry Bonds of provoking officials (and he doesn’t even need steroids), but that’s not the only reason that Cousins, or any other player, will never be able to match his achievement. The NBA established this system of mandatory suspensions in 2006-07, partly in response to Wallace’s antics, not just as a deterrent but as a way of minimizing the opportunities players have to pick up 40+ techs. It’s hard to get T’d up when you’re not allowed on the court.
So, Cousins will most likely not be the New Rasheed Wallace, at least not numbers-wise, but he’s certainly joined him, Walker, Rodman and Howard on the shortlist of the modern NBA’s greatest heels. While Kings fans might not be fully comfortable with their theoretical franchise player joining the ranks of some of the more polarizing figures in the sport, it’s not an entirely bad thing. After all the players mentioned above had, or are continuing to have, impressive NBA careers and mostly helped, rather than hurt, their teams. Walker, Rodman and Wallace all were parts of championship teams, while Howard dragged an otherwise relatively anonymous Orlando Magic team to the 2009 Finals.
The other good news for Kings fans might be that no role is ever truly fixed, not even that of the owner of all the technical foul records. During his final seasons, as he accepted his status as a veteran role player, Wallace’s reputation changed. Maybe he had mellowed, or maybe fans began to cultivate a certain amount of affection towards him after watching him for all this time, but he left the game as more of an almost-likable eccentric rather than one of the league’s most hated players. While Cousins will never challenge either of Wallace’s records, he could do worse than look to his later years for inspiration.
