NBA teams
ESPN News Services 6y

DeMarcus Cousins offers to pay for funeral of man shot, killed by police

NBA, Sacramento Kings, New Orleans Pelicans

Former Sacramento Kings star DeMarcus Cousins has offered to pay for the funeral of the 22-year-old unarmed black man who was shot and killed by city police Sunday in his grandmother's backyard, a source confirmed to ESPN.

"He has reached out to the family and offered to cover expenses," a source close to Cousins said.

According to the Sacramento Bee, which first reported Cousins' offer, Cousins has made similar efforts on several occasions before in Sacramento, where he played from 2010 as a rookie until last season, when he was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans.

Cousins paid for the funeral of a local football player, Jaulon "JJ" Clavo, who died in a shooting in 2015, has hosted free basketball camps and funded the purchase of a new scoreboard for Sacramento High School's basketball gym.

The latest reported gesture of Cousins to the family of Stephon Clark came a day after protesters delayed a Kings game against the visiting Atlanta Hawks for about 20 minutes amid other protests throughout the city.

Police say they feared that Clark had a handgun when they confronted him after reports that a man had been breaking windows. But police found only a cellphone.

Protesters holding signs with messages such as "Shut it down" converged arm-in-arm outside the Kings' home arena before Thursday's game. An estimated crowd of fewer than 2,000 made it into the 17,600-seat Golden1 Center before police decided not to allow anyone else to enter.

Owner Vivek Ranadive addressed fans after the game, surrounded by Kings players on the court, expressing sympathies to Clark's family and recognizing the franchise's role as a community leader.

The protesters earlier marched from Sacramento City Hall and onto a nearby freeway, disrupting rush-hour traffic and holding signs with messages such as "Sac PD: Stop killing us!"

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

^ Back to Top ^