Kevin Durant said he was being an "asshole" last night, expects a fine from the league, apologized to referee James Williams pic.twitter.com/93QE92UDic
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 24, 2018
Kevin Durant set a new career-high with 14 assists on Tuesday evening, but the Warriors’ star forward missed out on an opportunity to add to his total in Golden State’s 123-112 win over New York.
In the closing minutes of the game, Durant earned his fourth ejection of the season for arguing with official James Williams, who Durant said was “all up in his feelings” after the two disputed a carrying call with each other during the first half.
“So second half, his whole thing was like, he’s trying to get me,” Durant said postgame. “So look at my first tech. I got the rebound and I dribbled the ball hard and he teched me up. He was searching for me. He was looking to try to get me back because he was still in his feelings from the first half. That’s what’s been going on around the league the whole year. A bunch of that, you know what I’m saying? I’ve got to keep my head a little bit but I was upset. I’m a human being, too. I get upset. But I’ll move on, I said what I had to say.”
After Tuesday’s victory, Durant could have moved on and let the incidents go, but instead he used his platform to call out Williams for actions Durant deemed unfair. Less than 24 hours later, Durant issued a public apology to Williams after Golden State’s Wednesday practice, telling reporters that he was “being an asshole,” by targeting the official with pointed postgame comments.
“I looked at the plays that took up the techs and the plays and I was being an asshole last night,” Durant said. “I was being a jerk. That one foul at the end wasn’t a foul. I shouldn’t have slammed the ball down like I did. I can go back and say I was being a jerk last night. I deserve whatever the league is going to throw at me. I wish I would have handled that better obviously, but it was kind of heat of the moment for me and it’s a great learning experience.”
The frustration from Durant boiled over after the carrying call, which upset the Warriors’ forward because he said the crossover move he used is a play he’s worked hard to refine. Though Durant probably still believes the move was legal, he wanted to make sure his comments on Wednesday toward Williams were sincere.
“Yes, cause man I work on that move. I’m like this is my move and I felt like it was a good move and he called a carry and that’s one of those calls that you don’t really get all of the time. He irritated me I guess but I can’t react like that, I wish I could apologize to James that was out of my character.”
