Kevin Durant Fined $15K for Criticizing Officials After Ejection vs. Knicks

The NBA fined Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant $15,000 for criticizing the referees after Tuesday's 123-112 win over the New York Knicks, USA Today's Sam Amick reported Thursday.

Durant was ejected in the fourth quarter and later said one of the referees had been looking to toss him out of the game, per ESPN.com's Chris Haynes: 

"Look at my first tech. I got the rebound and I dribbled the ball hard, and he teched me up. He was searching for me. He was looking to try to tech me up to get me back because he's still in his feelings from the first half. That's what's been going on around the league the whole year. A bunch of that. I got to keep my head a little bit, but I was upset. I'm a human being too. I get upset."

Durant subsequently apologized for the comments.

"That one foul at the end wasn't a foul," the eight-time All-Star said of a decision in which the officiating crew didn't whistle the Knicks when he was driving to the basket. "I shouldn't have slammed the ball down like I did. I can go back and say that I was being a jerk last night, and I deserve whatever the league is going to throw at me."

The National Basketball Referees Association accepted Durant's apology on Twitter:

The dynamic between players and referees looms as one of the NBA's bigger stories. Durant's teammate, Draymond Green, went so far as to say in an interview with The Athletic's Anthony Slater that the league should hire new referees to replace the current ones.

After Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook was ejected from a game against the Sacramento Kings on Jan. 15, Carmelo Anthony told reporters he was "done with the refs."

Michele Roberts, executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, confirmed to Amick that representatives for NBA players and referees will meet Feb. 17 during the league's All-Star Weekend. The purpose of the meeting is to try to ease tension between the sides.