Skip Bayless: The NBA and referees have declared war on DeMarcus Cousins

DeMarcus Cousins picked up a technical foul less than a minute into Sunday’s loss on the road against the Thunder, and he was forced to the bench with 10 minutes left in the first quarter after picking up two personal fouls in quick succession.

Cousins carried the Pelicans offensively in the second quarter when he finally returned to the court, but he eventually fouled out of a close game with a few minutes to play as he was viciously dunked on by Russell Westbrook.

The technical foul was Cousins’ 18th of the season, which triggered a one-game suspension.

On Monday’s episode of "Undisputed," Chris Broussard, Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe debated whether Cousins’ technical should be rescinded and whether he’s unfairly targeted by the referees.

“Look, 32 seconds is early, but yes, it should stand. I think Steven Adams’ [technical] should be rescinded, because Adams didn’t do anything. They’re both getting physical during the play, and then afterwards it was Boogie that kept it going.

"Boogie has to realize [that] you’re not going to be judged like other players. You have a track record, and that has to come into play. There’s not a segment of our society where track record doesn’t come into play. If you’re a convicted felon, you’re going to be held to a different standard, you’re going to be judged differently than somebody with a clean record.

"The NFL’s going to judge Greg Hardy or Ray Rice differently than Russell Wilson or Cam Newton because of your track record in that area, domestic violence.

"Boogie has to understand that, and he can fix it. Just start controlling yourself … you don’t have to complain about every single call. He didn’t have to do what he did to Steven Adams. Simple as that.”

“I think the tech should be rescinded. As you mentioned, 32 seconds into the ballgame … but Boogie also has to know players are going to do things to instigate this. They already know how many technical fouls he has, so he needs to be smarter.

"But he also needs to understand, you no longer receive the benefit of the doubt. Since you’ve entered the league, this is your seventh season. He has 106 technical fouls.

"So you know what, let’s just say for the sake of argument, I’m going to rescind 10 of those because they should have never been called. That’s still 96 techs."

"Skip, what am I supposed to do with this? Look, Boogie Cousins is what he is. I was looking at all the guys that averaged 28 and 11. [Cousins] is basically 27.9 and 10.9 rebounds.

"When you look at the guys who have averaged that for a season, you get guys like Wilt Chamberlain, Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Anthony Davis is doing it this year. Bob McAdoo. These guys are in the Hall of Fame. That’s what Boogie Cousins is giving you right now. He’s giving you numbers that guys who are enshrined in Springfield (had) -- that’s what Boogie Cousins gives you on a nightly basis.

"But he’s also giving you headaches. That’s why Sacramento traded him for a jar of jelly beans and a mop bucket, because they said, ‘We can’t take this anymore.’ He’s a special talent."

"Here’s the thing: A lion is a lion in the San Diego Zoo or the Serengeti. The only thing that’s changed is his environment.

"Boogie Cousins is going to be Boogie Cousins whether he’s in Sacramento or New Orleans. So how does he choose to handle this going forward?

"You have these techs. Hopefully Anthony Davis and Alvin Gentry can sit him down after the season and say, ‘Bro, we need to on the floor.’  He had 31 points with 10 rebounds and three assists in a little over 21 minutes. That’s how talented he is. But these technical fouls … how am I supposed to defend this behavior?"

“I am with you, this should be rescinded. I do not think it will be rescinded because I think this league has basically declared war, through the referees, from the home office in New York City, on DeMarcus. To say, ‘Here’s the line you can no longer cross.’

"Again, 32 seconds into the game against a well-known, physical, sometimes grey-area player in Steven Adams. … Somewhere Charles Oakley is laughing at this. Kurt Rambis is laughing at this. All the old-school guys are saying, Kevin McHale is saying, ‘Are you serious? This happened every other play in our day.’

"I see that play happen three or four times a night today and no tech is called. That was a reputation tech.

"When the game starts, you have to give him the benefit of, ‘OK, it’s a new night and a new game. Let’s see how it goes tonight.’ And instead, I think it was Bennie Adams, blew the whistle [for a] technical foul right away to say, ‘Nope, you’re not going to cross that line tonight. We’re in control here, DeMarcus.’ ”

“I think that’s appropriate, though. They have to get control of the game. Hopefully [DeMarcus] would say, ‘Alright, I got it, I can’t play that way anymore the rest of the night.’

"How many times do you hear players say, ‘The refs set the tone early,’ right? ‘They let us play. They let us play for the first two quarters, so we knew we could play the rest of the game. Or they were calling it very close.’  You know early on, so they’re just setting the tone.”

“OK, what happened the night before? New Orleans was playing back-to-back, because they’d been in Dallas the night before. Late in the first quarter, all of a sudden boom-boom, within 30 seconds of each other, Danny Crawford calls personal foul, personal foul on DeMarcus. And he’s like … ‘what?’

"And I agree with you, he argues every call. A lot of times he’s correct to argue, but you can’t do it because you’re antagonizing those guys. You need to pick your spots.

"I was watching this game and I thought they were iffy. They were DeMarcus Cousins kind of fouls, where I can’t say it wasn’t a foul, but he’s getting no breaks anymore. And we talked about his opening night at New Orleans, he got no breaks. And it was like, ‘We’re drawing a line. Just because you have a fresh start doesn’t mean you have a fresh start with us as the referees.’

"So he gets two quick fouls, and of course he goes to the bench. He comes back with 10:07 left in the second quarter, and boom, Danny Crawford hits him again with another personal foul, and he’s out of the game both literally and psychologically. He was out of the game, and in the second half he scored five points in a game they should have won."

"He needs to understand every other technical foul I get, I’m going to go sit down. So he needs to be on heightened alert knowing that he can’t get this because not only is he hurting himself, costing himself money, you’re hurting the team.

"This team. They’re giving you a fresh start. Because, Chris, you said you talked to some general managers and they wouldn’t touch him with a 10-foot pole. The Pelicans said, ‘OK, we want him.’

"So now you’re in a new environment, change your ways! Don’t change the way you play. We want you to get buckets. Get us that 27.5, 11 rebounds. But bro, all the flailing of the arms, all that other stuff, they’re not going to let it fly. You built this reputation. This is the house you built, you’ve got to live in it until you re-do it."