Kevin Durant Comments on Receiving Flagrant Foul for Hitting Justin Anderson

Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant was ejected from his team's 119-108 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday after committing a flagrant-2 foul on Justin Anderson.

Durant swiped the rookie across the head with his arm as he was attempting a pass following an offensive rebound, sending Anderson flying under the basket:

For his part, Durant took the blame for the hard foul, per Royce Young of ESPN.com.

"It was a flagrant, even though I wasn't trying to intentionally foul him," he said.

Durant, who texted Anderson after the game to apologize, thought the referees did their jobs correctly, per Bobby Karalla, a digital content reporter for the Mavericks.

"The refs had to make a decision. They made the right one," Durant said.

Although the flagrant-2 foul warranted an automatic ejection, Durant won't be subject to an automatic suspension under the NBA's flagrant-foul points system. Durant received two points for the foul, and should he reach four in the postseason, he would serve an automatic one-game suspension.

However, the league could still decide to hand Durant a suspension at its discretion after reviewing the play.

It was the first postseason flagrant foul for Durant, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

Skip Bayless of ESPN didn't hold back in his assessment of the play:

While Durant himself acknowledged the play warranted a flagrant foul, he does not have a history of dirty play, flagrants or suspensions. That might not matter much to the Mavericks, but Durant was tossed from the game and served the penalty that accompanies the foul.

He did eventually find Anderson to apologize in person, per Damon R. Marx of the Dallas Morning News:

The consequences are set for players who continually commit those types of fouls, and Durant has proved over time he is not that kind of player. He seems to feel bad about it, so it's unlikely to happen again.