OAKLAND -- Kevin Durant has been ejected four times this season. Shaun Livingston was ejected, and the veteran official with whom he was in conflict, Courtney Kirkland, was suspended for his own actions.
It has not escalated to full-scale war between NBA players and officials, but it's increasingly rare that a game passes without friction.
The league is taking action to address the issue, announcing Friday that it will undertake a "five-pronged designed initiative to address the on-court working relationship between NBA players and referees."
Respected former official Monty McCutchen and Michelle Johnson, senior vice president and head of referee operations, have been selected to oversee the program.
The Warriors, whose players have been assessed with a league-high 28 technical fouls in 49 games, are open to a directive designed to confront this lingering issue.
"It's good to let us know what they're thinking out there," said Durant, whose four ejections lead the NBA. "And it's good for us to let them know what we're thinking as players.
"It's about the dialogue. It's just trying to make the game better. It's not about us as players or the refs. It's about the game and how we can make it better. This is a huge part of our game, so let's try to see how we can figure it out."
Sports
Johnson, McCutchen and their staffs will spent the coming weeks holding meetings with all 30 teams. They will address, among other things, education and interpretation of rules, on-court conduct and consistency of enforcement.
There also is a plan to provide enhanced training for referees regarding conflict resolution.
"It's great; the more communication, the better," coach Steve Kerr said. "It's more transparency. It'll be really good for our guys to be face-to-face with some officials out of the arena, maybe on the practice court, for real conversation, a chance to get to know them and personalize the relationship."
Draymond Green leads the league in technical fouls with 11. Durant is tied with Charlotte big man Dwight Howard in second place with 10. A 16th technical foul comes with an automatic one-game suspension and $5,000 fine.
Durant made clear, though, that he is wary of the league's motives.
"It's a matter of what they're trying to get accomplished," he said. "If we're trying to go and have a therapy session between the refs and the players, it's pointless."
Durant said that in discussing referee-player conflict with someone Thursday night, he concluded any animosity generally dissipates.
"No player is going home at night thinking about a ref or upset at a ref or going to sleep mad at a ref, or vice versa," he said. "They just need to make sure all the rules are clear, because they switched some rules up this year. The rules need to be clear and guys just need to get used to them and we'll be fine."
