NBA tweets explained: DeMarcus Cousins really is a hot yoga buff

DeMarcus Cousins did not love the Sacramento Kings’ decision to select two centers in the first round of this year’s NBA draft, but he didn’t live-tweet his displeasure, either. He really was, it seems, doing some hot yoga.

Allow us to explain. Cousins tweeted this smack dab in the middle of the Association’s prospect pageant:

https://twitter.com/boogiecousins/status/746149291249410050

Talk about your transparent veils. Cousins was clearly commenting on the WTF-state of the Kings. These 28 characters were a manifestation of poor roster decisions, crappy draft choices, misplaced free-agent ambition, recurring lottery appearances and, on that night, the redundancy of picking up two centers when there are already three on the roster: Willie Cauley-Stein, Kosta Koufos and himself.

Cousins tried to explain that his tweet had nothing to do with Sacramento’s draft-day decision-making, telling The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears that he was merely commenting on the status of “a hot sculpting class.” If at first blush you envisioned Cousins sitting in a 125-degree pottery seminar, sculpting a mug or an ash tray out of clay, you’re not alone. But he was talking about hot yoga, an excuse that seemed flimsy at best.

Fast forward to July 18, nearly one month after the draft, and Cousins’ explanation looked wholly unbelievable after he subtly criticized the very thing we thought he was bemoaning in the first place:

See? Cousins was totally subtweeting the Kings, and their incompetence, the first time around. There is nothing that could make us think otherwise.

Except this.

Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee not only spoke with Cousins about his newfound passion for hot yoga, he lived through it. His entire piece is worth a read, but this excerpt essentially validates Cousins’ explanation for his draft-night tweeting:

"A slimmer, more nimble Cousins has spent the past 2 1/2 months dedicated to yoga, pilates and weights in heated rooms as part of his offseason training regimen. Next month, he’ll play in the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro before his seventh NBA season in Sacramento.On the night of the NBA draft last month, Cousins’ Twitter post “Lord give me the strength” could have been viewed as a shot at the Kings’ front office for adding another center in the first round. That’s until you unfold a yoga mat at Vegas Hot!On Wednesday morning, Cousins went through a series of Venus poses in a room that is “therapeutically heated for 105 degrees and 40 percent humidity,” according to the studio."

There you have it. Cousins may not be a Sacramento Kings company man through and through, and he most definitely isn’t a fan of their offseason. But he’s also a yoga buff. And take it from someone who does yoga, albeit extremely poorly: This is enough to render his (admittedly ill-timed) draft-night Twitter dump wholly innocuous.