LSU vs South Carolina Brawl: DeMarcus Cousins Condones Violence Alongside Ex-ESPN Employee

The NCAA women’s division is bringing all the heat to the hardwood this season. While the competition is intense and the matchups are other-worldly as well, what has been on full display is the athletes’ passion for the game. Apparently, more than the win itself, South Carolina’s SEC Final got more eyes because of the brawl amongst the players on Sunday. While Dawn Staley, head coach for the Gamecocks, apologized for the behavior, DeMarcus Cousins is all for it.

Boogie shared his views on the heated moments while talking to Rachel Nichols. In the clip from their podcast, ‘Bully Ball’, Nichols says, “I’m not trying to condone violence here, but I loved it.” She continued, “I just think that that fieriness, that grittiness, that teams trying to win at all costs, that is something we love about professional sports. It took women a long a** time to convince society that they deserve to be able to have those feelings too.”

DeMarcus Cousins approved saying, “I think passion and emotion are a huge part of any sport. Something that’s slowly trying to be pushed out of the game then we complain about not having that competitive edge.” He added, “At the end of the day, we want the product on the floor to be at its best, competing at the highest level. And actually showing that they care (about) every possession and every game. Allowing these emotions and passion in the game, I think those are the results that you get.”

Undeniably, these two experts of the sport agree with the sentiments behind the scuffle that took place in the Gamecocks vs Tigers game. According to Nichols, it shows that there are real stakes and emotions in women’s college basketball as well. And that brawl hints at how feisty the remaining tournament will be. But how did it all start?

What went down in the SEC finals?

The Tigers had been trailing the Gamecocks for the entire game with a couple of points, ending the game at a close 72-79. Consequently, while trash-talking during the fourth quarter, the usual give-and-take of words escalated into a physical fight.

It seems, when Flau’jae Johnson of LSU was throwing jibes at South Carolina’s Ashlyn Watkins after stealing from her, the 6 ft 8 in senior Kamilla Cardoso shoved her to the ground. This entailed a series of incidents that concluded in the referees and coaches physically separating the team.

In the end, both the coaches gave their perspectives in post-game interviews. While the South Carolina Gamecocks went home with their 8th SEC trophy in the last 10 years, the physical throwing of hands made a bad name for Cardoso. However, NBA legend Boogie seems to have no issue with the entire incident and calls it a part of the game. Do you agree with him?

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