DeMarcus Cousins did not hold back Monday night.
After the Warriors' season-prolonging win over the Toronto Raptors in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, the Golden State big man repeated two words to reporters when NBC Sports Bay Area's Kerith Burke asked about his reaction to questions about Kevin Durant's heart.
"F--- them, f--- them," Cousins said at Scotiabank Arena following the Warriors' 106-105 win.
The reigning back-to-back Finals MVP made his 2019 Finals debut Monday, playing just shy of 12 minutes before injuring his Achilles and leaving Game 5. Durant had not played since straining his calf in Game 5 of the Warriors' second-round NBA playoff series on May 8, and he scored 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting in his only action of the Finals.
Cousins started Game 5 outside of the Warriors' rotation, but he was called into action after Durant's injury. The six-time All-Star responded with 14 points off the bench, his highest total since the Warriors' regular-season finale two months ago.
Durant's absence reportedly caused "confusion" and "angst" among his teammates, especially as other Golden State players fought through their injuries, but the reaction of Cousins and other Warriors on Monday were much different. Warriors general manager Bob Myers was moved to tears while announcing Durant had injured his Achilles and that the forward would need an MRI on Tuesday.
Fans at Scotiabank Arena initially seemed to cheer Durant's injury when he went down during the second quarter, before chanting "K-D" as he was helped off the court.
Cousins made it clear that he didn't like the crowd's initial reaction.
"Trash," Cousins told reporters. "So trash. But like I said, we're idolized as superstar athletes, not human beings. It's always about what we can do between those lines [on the court]. That's it. That's all that ever matters.
"And then once we lash out and do human-type things, then we're considered bad guys."
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Cousins and the Warriors will play one more game at Oracle Arena, on Thursday night in Game 6. They trail the best-of-seven series three games to two and again face elimination.