Kevin Durant is retroactively getting a finger-wagging from the NBA.
The NBA announced on Sunday that they have given the Phoenix Suns star Durant a retroactive flagrant foul for his actions during Friday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans. It is a retroactive flagrant 1 foul for Durant, the release adds.
In the first quarter of the game, which the Suns eventually went on to win 125-108, Durant had a ball screen set on him by Pelicans forward Karlo Matkovic. As Matkovic’s screen took Durant out of the play, Durant wound up and threw a punch at Matkovic that connected with his back and upper ribcage area.
Here is the video.
The punch by Durant was pretty weak, so much so that the referees did not even notice it on the spot and allowed play to continue. But even as much of a chicken wing as that was, the NBA still decided after the fact that it was worthy of a flagrant foul assessment.
The good news for the former NBA MVP Durant is that since the ruling was only a flagrant 1, he will not be facing a fine (a $2,000 fine comes with any flagrant 2 foul in the NBA). But Durant, who finished with 17 points and six assists in the win over the Pelicans, still has some other bigger problems to worry about right now. Even with the victory Friday, the Suns are still a brutal 28-32 (11th in the Western Conference), and Durant may be off to a new team by the summer.
