Kevin Durant On NBA's Referee Reports: "I Think It's Bullshit"

On Christmas, the Golden State Warriors blew a big fourth quarter lead against the Cleveland Cavaliers in their first Finals rematch game. The next day, the NBA admitted that the refs blew a couple big calls at the end of the game. This annoyed Kevin Durant, but not in the direction you might think:

A transcription, from ESPN:

“The refs didn’t lose us that game. We lost that game, we could have been better,” Durant said. “I think it’s bullsh— that the NBA threw the refs under the bus like that.”

[...]

“Just move on,” Durant said. “Don’t throw the refs under the bus like that. Because the next game, that group of refs or whoever it is, are going to come out and they’re going to ref the game. They’re going to be tense when they’re reffing the game and they’re going to try to get every play right. They’re going to try to be perfect, without just going out and relaxing and making the right call.”

[...]

“You can’t fine us for when we go out there and criticize them, but throw them under the bus for a 2 minute report,” Durant argued. “What about the first quarter? What about the second quarter, the third quarter?”

Durant concluded with a summary of his thoughts, stating, “Our refs don’t deserve that, and they’re trying their hardest to get the plays right, and you look at a play in slow motion and say it’s wrong. I think it’s bullsh— that they do that. That’s full of sh— that you throw the refs under the bus like that after the game like it matters. Game’s over, we moving on.”

We’re certain that Durant should be taken at his word here, and that he is truly and earnestly concerned with referees being able to do their jobs with a clear mind, and that this is not merely his attempt to ingratiate himself with the officials so as to get a couple of these kinds of game-deciding calls to go his way the next time around. Maybe some other guys would do that, but not The Servant.