DeMarcus Cousins Takes Emoji-Based Twitter Beef To Unprecedented Heights

We already knew DeMarcus Cousins was the master of quick-witted trash talk on Twitter. But what Cousins did last night was another level of wonderful, emoji-infused, online passive aggression, the likes of which we've perhaps never seen.

The Sacramento Kings center needed just three characters and two emojis to respond to increasingly loud reports that his new coach is lobbying to move him out of town.

If you don’t read emoji -- and you really should, because it’s the closest thing we have to a genuine global language these days -- it roughly translates to this:

What do Cousins’ tweet from 2015 and New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony’s tweet from 2011 have in common? The are both pretty clearly in reference to George Karl, the man who is reportedly pushing the Kings to trade Cousins out of Sacramento. Anthony published his own snake-grass tweet after Karl, who was once his coach in Denver, knocked his defensive commitment soon after he was traded.

Karl, who joined the team as head coach in February, has reportedly been throwing so much behind-the-scenes shade at Cousins that teammates felt compelled to let Cousins know. So basically, safe to say it's not a great working environment over in Sac-town right now. But if you’re a nervous Kings fan, the good news is Karl doesn’t run the front office, and team vice president Vlade Divac recently told The Sacramento Bee that “that is not happening.”

It’s not the worst situation for Boogie. If he emerges victorious in his battle with Karl, he’s the undisputed king of Sacramento basketball and a man who remained true to his small-market basketball team. If he loses, he gets to play somewhere besides Sacramento, maybe even with the Los Angeles Lakers. Win-win, right?