Kevin Durant Accused A Referee Of Going Out Of Their Way To Try And Eject Him

If there’s any one player that can point to how officiating has changed in the NBA this season, it’s Kevin Durant. The Golden State Warriors star had just one career ejection heading into the 2017-18 season, but Tuesday marked his fourth ejection of the season and his 10th technical foul in the same period.

Durant has been caught up in the testy atmosphere that’s plagued the NBA this year, and a number of NBA stars have been critical of officials at times. But after the game on Tuesday night, Durant was extremely harsh on officiating in the NBA.

Durant was especially critical of official James Williams, who he accused of being “in his feelings” and subsequently targeting him for his second and ejecting technical foul late in Tuesday’s win against the New York Knicks.

Durant said Williams was upset about what happened during the first half, which had nothing to do with either of his two technical fouls.

“Well, the first half, I was dribbling up the right side and I made a left-to-right cross, and he said I carried,” Durant told ESPN after the game. “I kind of let that go. I asked him where he got the carry from. He said I froze the defender, and I said that’s what the crossover is for and that’s why I do it, to freeze my defender.”

Durant wasn’t happy about the call, and he said Williams carried that conflict with him into the second half.

“And he tried to make a bunch of excuses, and I told him he was wrong, and he went into halftime probably with an attitude,” he said. “So the second half, his whole thing is like he’s trying to get me.”

Durant’s first technical foul did not come until the third quarter and was actually a result of some confusion. Durant slammed the ball down on the ground in frustration after a block on Knicks forward Willy Hernangomez that Durant thought was called a foul. Instead, the whistle was for a foul on Kevon Looney, but Williams still called a tech on Durant for the outburst.

Later in the game, Durant cursed at a different official, which led to his second technical foul after a non-call on a Durant drive to the basket.

Once Durant made it past half court, he screamed, “Why the f— that’s not a foul?” at official Brett Nansel and began to stare him down while on defense.

Williams, not Nansel, issued the second technical that sent Durant to the showers early.

“Look at my first tech,” Durant said. “I got the rebound and I dribbled the ball hard, and he teched me up. He was searching for me. He was looking to try to tech me up to get me back because he’s still in his feelings from the first half. That’s what’s been going on around the league the whole year. A bunch of that. I got to keep my head a little bit, but I was upset. I’m a human being too. I get upset.”

Durant said the official will likely be “in his feelings” again when he sees him later in the season. That might be the case, but Durant will also need to be in his wallet for criticizing officials, even if he has a point about quick whistles for things like this in the league this season.

Update: Durant said Wednesday that he looked at the tape and apologized for his behavior, saying he was a “jerk.”