Warriors' Kevin Durant: Last Two Minute reports for referees are BS
The superstar was not heartened by the league admitting officials got things wrong on Christmas
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2 min read
A day after Christmas, the NBA announced two crucial officiating mistakes late in Golden State Warriors' 109-108 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. One was that Richard Jefferson should have received a foul against Kevin Durant on the game's final possession, and one was that LeBron James should have received a technical foul for hanging on the rim after his earth-shaking dunk.
Perhaps some Warriors fans will see this news as some sort of vindication. Durant, however, was not exactly excited to hear it. To him, the game was over and done with, and while the league sees its Last Two Minute reports as an effort to be more transparent, he sees the whole practice as unfair to referees.
"The refs didn't lose us that game," Durant said Tuesday, via the San Jose Mercury News' Anthony Slater. "We lost that game. I think it's bull--- the NBA throws the refs under the bus like that. This happened to be in our favor -- not even in our favor, we don't get the win. But to say I got fouled, and the technical? Just move on. Don't throw the refs under the bus like that. Now the next game, that group of refs, whoever it is, they're going to come out to intentionally ref the game, try to get everything right and perfect without just going out there relaxing and trying to make the right call.
"You can't fine us for when we go out there and criticize them and then throw them under the bus for the two minute report. What about the first quarter, second quarter, third quarter? I think it's bullshit. They should get rid of them. Refs don't deserve that. They're trying their hardest to get the play right, then you look at the play in slo-mo and say it's wrong. I think it's bullshit that they do that. Full of shit that you throw the refs under the bus like that after the game.. Like it matters. The game's over. We move on."
Durant is hardly the first star player to speak out against the L2M reports. Back in April, Dwyane Wade called them "pointless" and LeBron James said that "it sends a bad message to our fans of thinking the game is only won in the last two minutes." San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich questioned the practice, too, and the National Basketball Referees Association called for the reports to be eliminated.
The comments from Popovich and the referees union came after two games in the Spurs' series against the Oklahoma City Thunder were affected by controversial late-game calls. Durant played for the Thunder at the time, so he's speaking with plenty of experience here. While the reports can be easily framed as a positive thing for a league that wants to be more open and accountable, it's unclear that those involved -- players, coaches and the officials themselves -- actually appreciate them.
