In the third quarter in the Golden State Warriors win over the Denver Nuggets, Kevin Durant was called for two technical fouls and was ejected from the game after arguing a non-call on what he thought was a shooting foul.
With about 8:27 left to play in the third quarter, Durant went up for a jumper over Denver’s Paul Millsap and thought he was fouled. After the play continued without a whistle, Durant was irate and pestered the officials until he was assessed a technical foul by referee Zach Zarba.
After the first technical, DeMarcus Cousins and Draymond Green tried keeping Durant away from Zarba while Kerr tried calming him down from the sideline. Nothing worked, and Durant was assessed a second and was ejected from the game.
After the ejection, Durant had some choice words for Zarba laced with some not safe for work language.
This comes on the heels of Durant, Green and Steph Curry all being fined for comments made about officiating after their brutal one-point loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves that also saw Durant get hosed over a non-call.
While Durant didn’t speak to the media after the game, Kerr said that he was a bit confused about the ejection.
“I thought he deserved the first technical. I didn’t think he deserved the second one,” Kerr said via ESPN. “I was very surprised. I watched the whole thing. I didn’t think he deserved to be ejected, but I think Zach Zarba is one of the best officials in the game, so I got no complaints with Zach. He knows what he’s doing. He’s a fantastic official. It was just surprising, and I never did really get an explanation or get a chance to talk to him, but we move on.”
The two technical fouls has pushed Durant to 15 on the season, one away from a one-game suspension. Green also has 15, meaning both forwards will have to be careful during the last five games of the season. Once the postseason starts, their technical foul count restarts at zero.
