Kevin Durant explains his numerous technical fouls

In case you missed it, Kevin Durant was ejected Thursday night. It was Durant’s return to the court, after a few weeks out with an injury, but the Golden State Warriors superstar didn’t last long before being tossed against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Durant picked up a pair of technical fouls - his 13th and 14th of the year - while expressing his displeasure with the refereeing. Fans with prime seats took to Twitter to transcribe what Durant said and . . . look, I’m not going to post it, because I care about your eyes. Let’s just say that he said a word your mom taught you not to say, and then followed it up with a few other words your mom taught you not to say, and then added a few variations on the theme, just to mix it up.

The two technicals resulted in an automatic suspension, his fifth this year. Prior to this season, Durant had only been ejected from one game in his ten-year career.

At practice on Friday, Durant attempted to explain his odd trend. “It’s just my emotions and passion for the game,” Durant said, as transcribed by ESPN. “After winning that championship (last season), I learned that much hadn’t changed. I thought it would fill a certain [void]. It didn’t. That’s when I realized in the offseason that the only thing that matters is this game and how much work you put into it.”

Durant elaborated that this realization has blossomed his “love and passion for the game,” and that there’s a new fire burning in him, albeit it one he knows he needs to control. And, to that end, he quickly admitted that referee Tre Maddox did the right thing by issuing the ejection.

As for future ejections, Durant noted that this won’t be an issue in the postseason. “I’ll be good,” Durant stated, before pointing out that they’re playing for a championship, and he’ll do whatever is necessary to facilitate that.

While Durant admitted that the ejections were something to work on (“It will probably take me the offseason to assess, ‘OK, let’s figure out how to tone this down a little’”), he was not regretful. Since he believes the technicals and ejections are coming from a place of passion, he’s not worried or upset.

“I love this game, and I’m going to do whatever I can to help my team get back to where we were last year,” he noted. “That’s what I’m excited for. That’s why you’re seeing this passion from me. Before, I used to care about the game and the lifestyle. Now, all I care about is my love for the game, the pureness of the game.”

That’s a pretty unique explanation. But I dig it.