NBA News & Rumors: Sacramento Kings Question DeMarcus Cousins Leadership; Rajon Rondo, Rudy Gay Set For Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan Rematch

By Mitch de Leon
DeMarcus Cousins
Sacramento Kings star DeMarcus Cousins generates continued interest from the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. Wikimedia Commons/Scott Mecum

The Sacramento Kings open the NBA regular season in their home court, with the Los Angeles Clippers visiting the Sleep Train Arena on Wednesday (October 28). It could be recalled that the Sacramento Kings enter this NBA season with roughly half of its old players making it to the final 15-man roster. Throughout the NBA offseason and summer, the Sacramento Kings had been quite active in acquiring basketball stars who are pegged as potential boosters in the team's performance.

One of the most notable acquisitions of the Sacramento Kings from the free agent market is former Boston Celtics star Rajon Rondo. In addition to the veterean point guard, the Sacramento Kings signed Eric Morleand, Kosta Koufos, Caron Butler and Duje Dukan. James Anderson and Marco Belinelli also joined the Sacramento Kings roster. The final free agent added in the Sacramento Kings roster is Golden State Warriors MVP Stephen Curry's brother, Seth Curry. The Sacramento Kings also secured the return of Omri Casspi. As for the 2015 NBA Draft, DeMarcus Cousins saw the entry of Willie Cauley-Stein in the Rudy Gay basketball squad.

Despite these changes, the Sacramento Kings still failed to snag a win in its first match this NBA season. Ending the exciting match with a devastating loss of 111-104 against the Los Angeles Clippers, fans and followers of the Sacramento Kings feel that the leadership of DeMarcus Cousins now becomes questionable. With the entry of new basketball stars in the NBA team, the standing of the highly aggressive and intense player might just be in danger. In fact, some sports experts believe that the addition of Rajon Rondo in the Sacramento Kings roster signifies the desire of the NBA team to look for players who can lead the team sans the attitude of someone as emotional as DeMarcus Cousins.

"Our personality is a little emotional," shared George Karl, referring to the overall status of the Sacramento Kings, according to the Sacramento Bee. The Sacramento Kings head coach added,"I don't want to totally remove emotion. I think there's good emotion and there's actually time that emotion can be good. But we've got to pick and choose our opportunities there. We've got to be better professionals about not cheating the game by being emotional in the wrong moment. And I think we've all got to help each other through it a little bit."

George Karl further noted that DeMarcus Cousins is in the process of becoming a more mature NBA star this season, saying that the passion and aggression of the basketball star could be used to the Sacramento Kings' advantage. He stated, "I kind of like coaching emotional guys. I like guys that care that show they care and they're angry that they're not playing well, or that something's going wrong out there. But it's got to be done in a never-hurts-the-team way."

The Sacramento Kings will be facing off against the Los Angeles Clippers again on Saturday (October 31). It remains to be seen if DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin and the rest of the LA team could deliver a repeat of their victory earlier this week, or if DeMarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay and Rajon Rondo will have a better grasp at the strengths and weaknesses of the Sacramento squad.

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