Kevin Durant’s return to the Warriors lineup didn’t even last a half of basketball after he was ejected from the game with two technical fouls.
Kevin Durant played in his first game since April 14 on Thursday night and was promptly ejected after exchanging words with an official late in the second quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks.
After driving to the basket with a discernable amount of contact, Durant was incensed when he didn’t receive a foul call and let Tre Maddox in on how he was feeling about the lack of a whistle.
Durant was asked about the ejection after the game, according to ESPN:
"“I got fouled and told ’em how I felt about it, and they kicked me out. Pretty simple.”"
Durant said that he thought Maddox missed two easy calls, the second of which led to Durant’s exchange and subsequent suspension, according to Anthony Slater.
Kevin Durant mentioned two "easy calls" he thought the ref missed. Here are both, the second clip is the one he got tossed after. pic.twitter.com/FhqLJNGShB
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) March 30, 2018
Bill Kennedy, the game’s crew chief, issued a statement following the game explaining why Durant was ejected, according to ESPN.
"“Mr. Durant was ejected due to the fact of two technical fouls. The first technical foul was issued for vulgarity. After the first technical foul was issued, the official tried to walk away, started to walk away, and the vulgarity escalated, and then he was assessed a second technical foul for the escalation of the vulgarity, resulting in an ejection.”"
The NBA is reportedly looking into the language used in the exchange, according to Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area.
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I've communicate with six people who claim to know what Kevin Durant actually said to get ejected. All six say it was a 3-word phrase. They're consistent on the first 2 words, but vary on the 3rd. Either way, the NBA will dig into this.
— Monte Poole (@MontePooleNBCS) March 30, 2018
The Warriors would go on to lose 116-107 as Giannis Antetokounmpo poured in 32 points on 18 shots.