Blake Griffin: Fouled Too Hard or Acting Too Much?

DeMarcus Cousins had some choice words regarding Blake Griffin after the Kings’ loss to the Clippers last week.

Cousins was matched up with Griffin but only spent 18 minutes on the court because of foul trouble. Cousins was especially upset when he picked up his fifth foul, being down 84-83 with only 1:11 to play.  The play went something like this: Griffin had the ball, Cousins swiped at the ball and missed, Griffin grabbed his eye, and a foul was called. When describing the fifth foul Cousins told The Sacramento Bee, "I guess the wind from my hand hit him in the eye. I guess he got fouled by the wind."

Griffin played the non-confrontational card, expressing that he wasn't worried about having to face the Kings again only two days later. In response to this, Cousins said "Of course that's what Blake is going to say because he's in L.A., where actors belong. He's an actor"(Sports Illustrated). 

But thats not all, Cousins accused Blake Griffin of being "babied" by "the refs" and "the league" in general. Cousins went on to say, "He gets away with [everything]. He taunts players. Nothing is done. He's babied."

And for those of you who might say Cousins is irrelevant, here are some stats: leading up to his match up with Griffin, Cousins had averaged nearly 27 points in the previous nine games and scored a career high 41 points against Phoenix just two days earlier. He's been outstanding for the Kings this season.

So what do we make of all of this?

Is there some truth to what Cousins said? Is Blake Griffin treated differently because of his extraordinary dunks that humiliate and embarrass the victims?

Well, towards the beginning of the season we saw some pretty brutal fouls on Blake Griffin, including this one:

I am NOT taking away from any of Griffin's accomplishments. He is undeniably a beast, monster, and every other creature-like word I could use to describe him. He's a freakish athlete, a human highlight reel, and no doubt the king of dunks in the league right now. However, there have been plays where Griffin must have been hit by a phantom, because there's just no other explanation. For example:

And then there are plays where there might be some slight favoritism or special treatment by the officials, like:


I think this play could have gone both ways, but the fact that the dunk counted and an offensive foul was not called could indicate some favoritism, right?


So could it be that calls like the last two, in Griffin's favor, are being made to prevent plays like the first, where Griffin goes down hard?

What do you guys think?