Kevin Durant is not a big fan of NBA officials.
The Golden State Warriors forward made that abundantly clear after Friday night’s game against the Orlando Magic. Durant was tossed with just under five minutes to play after saying some choice words to official Eric Lewis, and following the game, according to ESPN, he had this to say:
“The refs run the game, so if they’re not feeling good today, they can just make any decision they want,” Durant said. “I have to know that they got all of the power, and I got to shut up and take it.”
While certainly a little charged on Durant’s end, the ejection was indeed a perplexing one.
The All-Star was fouled while shooting, but only was given one shot instead of two. Lewis caught an earful from Durant and Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who were understandably annoyed with the call. But the next time the Warriors were on offense, Durant scored and again mouthed off to Lewis and promptly was ejected.
But at that point the Warriors were leading 121-105, so it was a pretty tactless move to go after an official with a 16-point lead and five minutes to play.
At the end of the day, 2017 really has turned into the year of the ejection.
