I'm not a huge Cousins fan, but that call was bogus. I almost feel bad for the kid. Rondo and Cousins together would definitely make up the all time NBA No Respect team.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwu-6GxBHN4
You mean the respect they (fail) to show the refs, and at times their teammates and coaches, right?
No, that wasn't what I meant. I'm not saying that either guy has been perfect, but I really don't like the fact that the league seems to increasingly making their decisions based on reputation, and not on enforcing the rules of the game uniformly, regardless of reputation.
I don't like that.
Well, I don't want to get into the argument on whether its right or wrong, but the bottom line is it is reality. Players who do not show respect to the officials, will not get the respect in return. Just like if you don't show respect to other people you work with, chances are, they will respond in kind.
Maybe its not right, but it is the way the world works, and until these guys get that, they are going to continue in the viscious cycle of imagining persecution and making it a self fulfilling prophesy.
The best thing that came from the Rondo suspension is that for the first time I can think of, his response to it was that "maybe I need to change". That is a HUGE hurdle to get over for any young person, no matter what the circumstances. Once you internalize that stuff, and realize that sometimes it doesn't matter what you think is right or wrong, what matters is what works, then things can change dramatically.