Friday is the next chance for Kings coach Keith Smart to play his starting center that has missed the last 2 ½ games for disciplinary reasons.

Monitoring when (DeMarcus) Cousins plays is one thing. The relationship between and Cousins and Smart is something else to watch.

Smart made progress in building a relationship with Cousins after the center’s strained relationship with Paul Westphal. Once Cousins didn’t trust Westphal, it didn’t matter what the coach said, he’d lost Cousins.

So Smart did all he could to build a bond. He visited Cousins at home. Got to know him on a personal level and tried to get to know Cousins as a person, not just a player.

via Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee