The Season Of Ejections For Kevin Durant
Many have wondered all season long what has gotten into Durant, prior to the 2017-18 season getting underway, Durant had only been ejected once in his first 10 years in the league. This season he has already five ejections, and 14 technical fouls, just two away from an automatic one-game suspension.
Golden State Warriors have seven games remaining in the regular season, and even higher stakes at that point, Durant said: "I'll be good. We're trying to win another championship. That's why we're playing. Everything will be fine."
Just to remind you, in his first game back from a six-game absence to recover from a rib injury, Durant picked up his 13th and 14th technical fouls of the season, resulting in an automatic ejection late in the second quarter of Thursday's loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
"It was a tech, I got thrown out of the basketball game. I wish I didn't. I wanted to play. I'm sorry. Well, I'm not sorry, but I wish I could finish the game.”
Antetokounmpo said the game changed in the Bucks' favor after Durant was tossed.
"He's one of the best players in the world, so when he went out of the game, we were kind of happy, but we still had to do our job."
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Kevin Durant was even fined $15,000 for publicly criticizing a referee after the Warriors’ 123-112 win over the New York Knicks, on January 23rd. After the game, Durant said referee James Williams was “in his feelings” and targeted him in the second half. He apologized a day later saying he was acting like a jerk and diva.
“I wish I had handled that better, obviously, but it was kind of a heated moment for me. I could be better. It was a great learning experience for me,” Durant said. After his apologies, the National Basketball Referees Association tweeted out that Durant had been forgiven.
The question remains the same, what has gotten into Durant, and he replies, “this is me”.
"I love this game, and I'm going to do whatever I can to help my team get back to where we were last year. That's what I'm excited about. That's why you're seeing this passion from me. Before, I used to care about the game and the lifestyle. Now, all I care about is my love for the game, the pureness of the game. This is me." Durant told ESPN
The only player with more ejections in a season in the past 25 years is Rasheed Wallace (seven in 1999-00 and 2000-01).
