Kevin Durant narrowly avoids a Christmas Day ejection

OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 20: Kevin Durant
OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 20: Kevin Durant /
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Kevin Durant needs to chill out with the technical fouls.

Before this season, Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant had amassed a total of one ejection in his entire NBA career. This season, he has three, and he was on the verge of checking out early yet again in their Christmas Day rivalry game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

It’s safe to say that Durant has had a troubling mariage with losing his cool with the refs this season. There was the time when he and Stephen Curry got ejected in Memphis, and Durant threw a one-finger salute to the Grizzlies fan base.

Oh, and how about the time when Durant shouted to the refs “Call that s**t, f**k U!” to the refs in Orlando? Yep, he was heading to Disney World early as well.

So far, the Warriors have been able to sidstep Durant’s on-court tantrums and keep on winning, but sooner or later, that outburst is going to cost the Warriors when it matters the most. So it will be to the betterment of the Warriors that Durant chill out with the technical fouls.

Sure, there will be calls that players won’t agree with. The refs are human, if you haven’t figured that out already. There is a fine line, however, with being upset with a call and letting your emotions get the best of you, and Durant has crossed this line too many times, and we’re not even at the All-Star break yet.

So why is Durant, who was a model on-court NBA citizen before taking his talents to Golden State, getting tee’d up so much?

It could be a team culture thing.

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The Warriors, as good as they are, can never seem to keep their emotions in check. Draymond Green and Steph’s mouthpiece can attest to this fact. Point is, Durant needs to cool down before his meltdown cost the Warriors a game they can ill afford to lose.