NBA officials union accept Kevin Durant's apology

New York, January 26: Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant has made his peace with NBA referees.

Durant apologised this week for his conduct during Tuesday's 123-112 win over the New York Knicks.

The 29-year-old was ejected with just under three minutes remaining in the game, and later claimed referee James Williams had targeted him during the contest.

However, Durant later told reporters: "I wish I had handled that better obviously but it was kind of a heat-of-the-moment for me. I could be better. It was a great learning experience for me though.

"I wasn't getting picked on. I was being a diva. I've got to just own up to it. I watched it when I got home. I was wondering why he was coming at me so hard but then I watched the plays I was like, 'yeah, I looked like a jerk out there.'

"It was bad. Luckily we won and we can move past it and I kind of owned up to it. I'll be better next time.

"I wish I could apologise to James because that was out of my character."

And the official Twitter account for NBA referees posted: "Apology accepted. This is the kind of common ground we hope to achieve when the NBRA [National Basketball Referees Association] meets with the @TheNBPA [National Basketball Players Association] next month."

Source: OPTA