Report: DeMarcus Cousins Volunteers to Pay for Funeral of Stephon Clark
Former King DeMarcus Cousins has reached out to the family of Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old African-American man who was shot and killed by Sacramento police on Sunday, and volunteered to pay the cost of the funeral, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Beereports.
On Thursday, the Kings' game against the Hawks was delayed about 20 minutes because of protesters outside the Golden 1 Center who blocked fans from entering the stadium in response to the shooting. Sacramento picked up a 105-90 win in front of a mostly-empty arena.
After the game, Kings owner Vivek Ranadive addressed the crowd to discuss the protest and called Clark's shooting a "horrific tragedy" and expressed sympathy to the family.
Clark was shot and killed in his grandparents' backyard after police mistook his phone for a gun. Body camera footage of the shooting was released Thursday. The Clark family set up a GoFundMe with a goal of $50,000 for the funeral expenses and raised more than $62,000 as of 5 p.m. ET Friday.
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Cousins, who has been out since January with a torn Achilles, started his career in Sacramento before being traded to the Pelicans last season. He was drafted by the Kings with the No. 5 pick in 2010 and spent more than six seasons in Sacramento.
In 2015, Cousins paid for the funeral of Sacramento high school football player Jaulon Clavo, who was shot and killed while driving with with four teammates to pick up food before a home game.
According to Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee, Cousins participated in forums and townhall events with police and children in Sacramento, Compton and his hometown of Mobile, Ala. to address police relations with those communities. In October, the four-time All-Star was awarded the inaugural Offseason NBA Cares Community Assist Award for his "numerous community efforts in Alabama, New Orleans, Sacramento and South Africa."
