NBA fines Kevin Durant for ref rant

SAN FRANCISCO, USA (UPDATED) – Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant has been fined $15,000 after his rant at officiating earlier this week, the NBA announced on Thursday, January 26.

(Kevin Durant of Golden State Warriors fined $15,000 for criticizing referee) has been published on viral … – https://t.co/nku6tsgGl2 pic.twitter.com/ti7h1gP009

— Viral Snoop (@ViralSnoop) January 26, 2018

Durant lost his cool at referee James Williams during Tuesday’s win over the New York Knicks, accusing him of targeting him with a technical.

“Second half, his whole thing was he’s trying to get me,” Durant complained to reporters after his fourth ejection of the season.

Durant subsequently apologized for his remarks, saying that after looking at the tape of the game he had realized Williams had acted correctly.

Report: Kevin Durant fined $15K for comments about refs. https://t.co/WurI56nREj pic.twitter.com/4to7St1wpi

— theScore (@theScore) January 26, 2018

Kevin Durant fined just $15k for publicly criticizing officials, via @jacobc_palmer https://t.co/29OSKIxl93 pic.twitter.com/W3g3X5G4He

— SF Examiner Sports (@sfexsports) January 26, 2018

“I can go back and say I was being a jerk last night, and I deserve whatever the league is going to throw at me,” Durant said on Wednesday, January 25.

“I wish I had handled that better, obviously, but it was kind of heat of the moment for me. I could be better. It was a great learning experience for me, though.”

Apology accepted. This is the kind of common ground we hope to achieve when the NBRA meets with @TheNBPA next month: https://t.co/gyuNZ53u9f

— NBA Referees (@OfficialNBARefs) January 25, 2018

The National Basketball Referees Association later praised Durant’s mea culpa.

“Apology accepted. This is the kind of common ground we hope to achieve,” the NBRA wrote in a Twitter post. – Rappler.com