Halo

The NBA fined New Orleans Pelicans center DeMarcus Cousins $25,000 for "inappropriate language" he directed toward a fan during the team's 103-91 road loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night at the FedExForum.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN passed along the news Saturday. James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area noted the punishment is in response to an incident from late in the fourth quarter when Cousins received a technical foul, which the NBA has now rescinded.

After the contest, Cousins alleged the fan's actions caused him to react, saying, "She dropped a couple 'F' bombs and flipped me off, and I don't think that was right," per Rod Walker of The Advocate.

He continued:

"That's pretty bogus. He (the referee) sat there and heard her speaking to me in a nasty way. I shouldn't have responded to it, but I'm a human being and I'm also a grown man and I'm not going to let another person just disrespect me. I feel like he (the referee) should have handled it, but he decided not to but he handled my end of it."

He also said he planned to speak with the league office about fan conduct toward players.

Meanwhile, Devin Walker of 929ESPN in Memphis provided a look at the card given to the fan involved:



Incident aside, Cousins is off to a strong start to the 2017-18 campaign. He's averaging 31.5 points, 12.0 rebounds and 3.5 blocks for the 0-2 Pelicans.

New Orleans returns to action Sunday night when it travels to Staples Center to face the Los Angeles Lakers.

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