Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant, left, drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers’ Richard Jefferson in the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2016, in Cleveland. The Cavaliers won 109-108. AP
OAKLAND, Calif. — Kevin Durant is calling on the NBA to toss out the Last Two Minute Report because he, like the league’s officials, believes it could only lead to more errors because referees might become tentative while trying to be perfect.
“They should get rid of it, refs don’t deserve that. They’re trying their hardest to get the plays right then you look at a play in slo-mo and say it’s wrong,” Durant said after practice Tuesday. He felt it was unfair “that you throw the refs under the bus like that after the game. Like it matters, the game’s over, we’re moving on.”
No stewing by KD and the Golden State Warriors upon learning the NBA acknowledged two missed calls late in the team’s one-point Christmas Day loss at Cleveland. They lost this one all on their own.
“The refs didn’t lose us that game. We lost that game. We could have been better,” Durant said. “This happened to be in our favor — not even in our favor, we don’t get the win. To say that I got fouled and the tech and all that stuff, just move on. You don’t have to throw the refs under the bus like that.”
In an NBA Finals rematch, the champion Cavaliers won 109-108 with the NBA saying Monday that LeBron James should have received a technical for hanging on the rim with 1:43 to play and that Richard Jefferson fouled Durant on the game’s final play.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr called the officiating crew from Sunday “outstanding” and some of the NBA’s best. He also appreciates the league “being transparent.”
“The officials didn’t decide that game, we had a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter,” Kerr said.
The National Basketball Referees Association has called for reform regarding the Last Two Minute Report because it “will cause more harm than good for the officials and the game. We call for an end to L2M reporting and other transparency measures and a return to private, league-managed evaluations, reviews, education, training, and discipline for NBA officials.”
Durant is concerned how Sunday’s crew might react and perform in upcoming games given it was called out.
“So for the next game, that group of refs, whoever it is, they’re 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 and they’re going to try to be perfect without just going out there and relaxing and making the right call,” he said. “You can’t fine us when we go out there and criticize them but throw them under the bus for a two-minute report. What about the first quarter, what about the second quarter, third quarter?”
Draymond Green also dismissed the idea that the Warriors somehow got robbed at the end.
“If we do what we got to do it doesn’t come down to that Last Two Minute Report anyway,” Green said. “Not that I care about that report or not. It’s kind of pointless. But it should have never got to that point.”
Meanwhile, Green — who was hit with a technical for hanging on the rim against Utah last Tuesday and has been penalized for excessive celebrations — insists he won’t do anything differently even after picking up his team-leading seventh technical Sunday when he emphatically walked to the bench after a foul call and yelled. Late last season, he tried to curtail his Ts and cut down on arguing.
“It is what it is. I’m going to continue to be me,” he said. “Continue to play my game and however they’re going to officiate they’re going to officiate. I can’t change that. I worry about the things in life I can control. Everything else that’s out of my control, why stress over it? … I don’t know what else I can watch. I don’t really talk to them much anymore. Just continue to be me. If I get a tech, so be it.
“I don’t know what other approach to take other than walking toward the bench. There’s no other approach to take than that. I’m going to continue to be the only person I know how to be and that’s me. There’s a lot of guys that get home at night and they’re exhausted from acting all day. I only know how to be Draymond. That’s who I’ve been my entire life, that’s who I’m going to continue to be. I won’t be exhausted from acting when I get home. That ain’t going to work for me.”