Kevin Durant obtained his 15th and 16th technical fouls of the season, which will have him suspended for the Warriors matchup with the LeBron-less Lakers.
Kevin Durant probably didn’t want to play the Los Angeles Lakers anyway.
After all, the Golden State Warriors Thursday night nationally televised matchup with the fracturing Lakers doesn’t seem all that enticing as it did before the season. With the playoffs almost around the corner, and with no records to really break this time around, head coach Steve Kerr may have rested Durant, along with a couple of other players, anyway.
Instead, Durant will have to sit the Lakers game out.
In Golden State’s huge win over the Denver Nuggets — the only team within earshot of catching the Warriors for the top seed in the West — Durant was tossed out of the game on two technical fouls. Those T’s were numbers 15 and 16 of the season, and according to league rules, if a player amasses 16 technical fouls in a season, they will face a one-game suspension.
So, Durant will get a game off on Thursday, pending the NBA doesn’t rescind one of the technicals; and why would they? The Warriors has been in the thorn of the officiating crews for nearly the entire season. In fact, on the same day, the Warriors learned of Durant’s one-game “NBA Mandated” load management day, the league hit Durant, Stephen Curry, and Draymond Green with fines for complaining about the officials.
If you’re still wondering, yes, they’re still a bit peeved by how their game against the Minnesota Timberwolves ended.
So to add it all up, the NBA has no incentive to rescind Durant’s suspension, and I’m pretty sure KD could care less if they did. It’s been a weird season for Golden State, one marred by inconsistent play and inconsistent, and somewhat hostile, officiating. Given all of that, Durant would love a day off from basketball right now.