Warriors' Kevin Durant sorry for ejection, outburst

OAKLAND - “I was being an a--hole last night,” Warriors forward Kevin Durant told the media Wednesday afternoon.

Durant was sitting in the Warriors practice facility discussing his ejection from Tuesday’s 123-112 victory against the New York Knicks.

With 3:24 left in the third quarter, official James Williams gave Durant a technical foul for slamming the ball against the ground after a rebound.

And with 2:50 left in the fourth quarter and the Warriors winning by 18 points, Williams gave Durant his second technical of the game. Durant thought he drew contact while driving to the hoop, but the officials didn’t call a foul. Durant argued and got ejected.

After the game, during Durant’s postgame press conference, the former MVP was still upset. He detailed his entire interaction with Williams.

“First half, I was dribbling up on the right side, I made a left-to-right cross and (Williams) said I carried (the ball),” Durant said, leaning forward in his chair, looking down at the table in front of him.

“I asked him, ‘Where did you get the carry from?’ He said I froze the defender. I said, ‘That’s what a crossover is for. That’s why I do it. To freeze my defender.’ He tried to make a bunch of excuses. I told him he was wrong. And, he went to halftime probably with an attitude.

“So second half, he was trying to get me. 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 tech me up to get me back because he was still in his feelings from the first half. That’s what has been going on around the league the whole year, a bunch of that. 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 will move on. I said what I had to say.”

Counting his ejection Tuesday night, Durant has gotten ejected a league-leading four times. Before this season, he had gotten ejected only once in 10 seasons.

Durant also has committed 10 technical fouls - second most in the NBA. If he commits 16, he will receive a one-game suspension.

“Kevin knows he should not have said what he said after the game,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said on Wednesday.

“I wasn’t getting picked on,” Durant admitted Wednesday. “I was being a diva. I’ve got to just own up to it. I watched it when I got home - I was wondering why (Williams) was coming at me so hard. But, then I watched the plays. I looked like a jerk out there. It was bad.

“That one foul at the end wasn’t a foul. I shouldn’t have slammed the ball down like I did. 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 the heat of the moment for me. I can do better.”

Durant said his anger stemmed from the first half when Williams called him for carrying.

“I work on that move,” he said. “I felt like I made a good move, and he called a carry. That’s one of those calls you don’t really get all the time. But, I can’t react like that. I wish I could apologize to James. That was definitely out of my character.

“The thing with the refs, I was telling somebody the other day, we have a couple rule changes in the league now where if you’re driving to the rim (and you get fouled), sometimes it’s a continuation (resulting in foul shots, but) sometimes you (take the ball out) on the side. So, I think that’s what been irritating a lot of guys.

“We’re kind of in that gray area of not knowing how these plays are going to be called. I think that’s what it is more than anything, because all these refs have been around so long and it has never been this bad. It’s just the fact that they tweaked a couple rules and it’s tough to call for the ref, and it’s tough to play for the players. It’s causing a little feud. Once we figure that out, I think it’ll be great.”

One player on the Warriors seems to have figured out how to get along with the refs recently: forward Draymond Green. He hasn’t committed a technical foul in almost two weeks after committing 11 to start the season and 14 all of last season.

“The ultimate irony,” Kerr said, “Draymond the voice of reason with the officials. It’s great. He has been fantastic. Draymond has found that balance of competing and playing with that edge that we need without going too overboard, or overboard at all. He has found a really nice niche.

“Maybe that’s Kevin’s next step as well.”