Kevin Durant actively follows every game of NBA basketball that takes place each night, and will often share his thoughts on the same on Twitter by shouting out great performers or calling out things he didn’t like.
During the playoffs last year, Durant was watching the Denver Nuggets play the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 5 when Damian Lillard scored 55 points and tweeted out ‘this is a spiritual experience‘. However, he had a very different thing to point out during the Denver Nuggets game against the Indiana Pacers.
Nuggets guard Austin Rivers was being guarded by Indiana Pacers’ Lance Stephenson at the top of the key. Rivers held the ball and raised his arm to create some space, but he made very slight contact with Stephenson, who flopped to the referees. That resulted in Rivers being thrown out of the game, something Durant didn’t appreciate.
This is embarrassing https://t.co/eGA8epyrSj
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) March 31, 2022
Referees making bad calls is something we have seen before. However, we don’t get to see ridiculous ejections like this that often. Rivers really didn’t do anything to be called for a foul on Stephenson. The way the Pacers’ guard sold the minimal contact was enough for the referees’ interest to be piqued.
A call like that may not have made a big difference to the result of the game, but is still something that shouldn’t happen. This could be a game-changer in a close-game situation. Not only that, if a high-usage player is ejected from the game, their team will be markedly worse on the floor because of a bogus call.
Hopefully, we see more parity in refereeing across the league when we come into the playoffs, as bad calls are the most frustrating when teams’ are putting their season on the line. It will most likely be the same as always, but no harm in holding out on hope.
