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The never-ending tiff between Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant and the game officials has been something in the crosshairs of the NBA league office.
Upon his return after a six-game absence, Durant earned his fifth ejection of the season right before the end of the first half, playing just 17 minutes before the early shower.
According to Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area, the league is set to look into what was said between Durant and referee Tre Maddox, who exchanged words before the All-Star forward was tossed out on Thursday.
“I've communicated with six people who claim to know what Kevin Durant actually said to get ejected,” wrote Poole. “All six say it was a three-word phrase. They're consistent on the first two words, but vary on the third. Either way, the NBA will dig into this.”
According to David McKay of USA TODAY Sports, Durant is audibly heard to say to Maddox: “Call the f***ing call, you b**ch a** m*****f***er.”
Fellow journalists close to the action have also come to the same conclusion.
For those asking, Kevin Durant called Tre Maddox words that rhyme with "itch bass other pucker," and no official should be asked to "walk away" or have "selective hearing" when spoken to like that.
— Moke Hamilton (@MokeHamilton) March 30, 2018
Besides the fines for the ejection itself, Durant could be paying an extra $25,000 bill for criticism of the referees, after paying $15,000 in late January for the same offense.
Durant's beef with Maddox was what he considered two “easy calls” that he missed with him driving to the rim — one late in the first quarter, and the other right before halftime.
Kevin Durant mentioned two "easy calls" he thought the ref missed. Here are both, the second clip is the one he got tossed after. pic.twitter.com/FhqLJNGShB
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) March 30, 2018
Thursday marked Durant's fifth ejection of the season, only having two total for his career prior to the start of this 2017-18, where he's managed to earn them in only 61 games of action.
