DeMarcus Cousins "Talked Back" To His Coach, Never Came Out Of The Locker Room After Halftime, Is Suspended Indefinitely [UPDATE]

DeMarcus Cousins didn't play the second half of last night's game against the Clippers, or even come out of the longer room after the half. Cousins was asked to stay behind because of, according to Kings coach Keith Smart, "conduct detrimental to the team." Smart declined to expand on that explanation, but Cousins had a fair amount to say—none of it very specific, but all of it generally remorseful—to reporters after the game. From the Sacramento Bee:

"What happens in the locker room stays in the locker room but I was wrong. But what happens in the locker room stays in the locker room."

Cousins was then asked what he could do to avoid further situations where attention was on his actions off the court.

"Don't talk back. That's the thing. I shouldn't have responded back. Should have accepted what was said and stayed quiet."

Cousins said the situation was humbling.

"I messed up. I'm apologizing to all my teammates for it, for responding the way I did, and we'll move on from it...I grow from all of my mistakes."

Whatever he said, his apology apparently didn't get him out of the dog house. Many are reporting that Cousins is now suspended indefinitely for "unprofessional behavior and conduct detrimental to the team."

The Bee writes that Smart is "one of DeMarcus Cousins' biggest supporters," but this is not the first coach with whom Cousins has had problems—the Kings essentially threw their lot in with their star by firing Paul Westphal instead of trading Cousins last season; almost exactly a year later, Cousins is off the court for insubordination again. During the Westphal debacle, J.A. Adande wrote, "[T]he Kings clearly want to move Cousins." Were they to actually try to do that this time—and he was only suspended an hour ago, so let's not lose our heads—there would be plenty of interested parties.

The Morning After: Keith Smart Enforces Standard With Cousins' Discipline [Sacramento Bee]

Update, 4:44 p.m.: Sam Amick reports, "Two people with knowledge of the incident told USA TODAY Sports that nothing of a physical nature occurred between Cousins and his coach and that the yelling went back and forth between both men. Cousins, according to one of the people, used extensive profanity while sharing his latest frustrations." Extensive profanity! Are there words DeMarcus Cousins knows that we don't? Probably.