Kevin Durant was assessed two quick technical fouls and subsequently ejected in the first half of Thursday night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Late in the second quarter, Durant drove to the basket and clearly there were contact, although a foul was not called. He fell to the ground and began arguing as play continued on that end of the court. Then, Durant walked over to the ref to continue yelling about the lack of a call and he was given two technicals.
According to ESPN, after the game Durant said, “I got fouled and told ’em how I felt about it, and they kicked me out. Pretty simple.”
Durant’s finished 10 points on 4-10 shooting in 17 minutes of play.
Crew chief Bill Kennedy said the following about the ejection:
“Mr. Durant was ejected due to the fact of two technical fouls. The first technical foul was issued for vulgarity. After the first technical foul was issued, the official tried to walk away, started to walk away, and the vulgarity escalated, and then he was assessed a second technical foul for the escalation of the vulgarity, resulting in an ejection.”
This was Durant’s 14th technical foul and his fifth ejection of the season. For any NBA player that accumulates 16 technical fouls there is an automatic one-game suspension.
Earlier this month, Durant suffered a fractured rib and missed six games.
The Golden State Warriors, 54-21, may be the second seed in the West, and the reigning NBA Champions, but they are limping mightily into the playoffs. Two-time NBA MVP Steph Curry is out for the rest of the regular season and is not likely to return for the first round of the playoffs with a grade 2 MCL sprain. The other half of the “Splash Brothers,” Klay Thompson, will return soon from a fractured thumb. If Golden State is able to make it to their fourth consecutive NBA Finals appearance, it’ll be despite a myriad of injuries.