Kevin Durant, usually a mild-mannered and laid back individual, received his fourth ejection of the season in a game against the New York Knicks for arguing with a referee. On Thursday, Durant received the standard $15,000 fine for criticizing NBA officials.

According to Mark Medina of Mercury News, Durant initially claimed that the referee had it out for him.

“I was dribbling up on the right side,” Durant said. “I made a right-to-left cross. He said I carried. He kind of let that go. I asked him where did you get the carry from? He said I froze the defender. I said that’s what a crossover is for, and that’s why I do it, to freeze my defender. He tried to make a bunch of excuses and I told him he was wrong. He went to halftime probably with an attitude.”

“So second half, his whole thing was like he’s trying to get me,” Durant said. “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 was still in his feelings from the first half. That’s what’s been going on around the league the whole year is a bunch of that. You know what I’m saying? I’ve got to keep my head a little bit. But I was upset. I’m a human being too. I get upset.”

Although Durant did apologize for his remarks towards towards the officials in the Knicks game, the NBA still gave him a customary punishment for his actions. Hopefully, both sides can move on.