Phil Jackson Fined for Comments About Kevin Durant

Originally Published: Apr 16, 2010 8:44 AM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

LOS ANGELES – The NBA fined Lakers head coach Phil Jackson $35,000 Friday for comments he made earlier in the week about the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant.

During the regular season, Durant led the league with 10.3 free-throw attempts per game. On Tuesday, Jackson questioned the calls officials have made to provide him so many opportunities from the charity stripe.

"As far as the calls that he gets on the floor, I think a lot of the referees are treating him like a superstar; he gets to the line easy and often," Jackson said.

This is the second time in two weeks that Jackson’s pocketbook has been lightened because of comments about officiating. He also was fined $35,000 on April 5 after complaining about calls made late in the second quarter of the Lakers’ game against San Antonio.

Jackson is not the first person to question how often Durant gets to the line. Boston Celtic Kevin Garnett made similar comments – albeit in more colorful language – after Durant went to the free-throw line 15 times and scored 37 points against the Celtics on March 31.

“It was like we were playing Michael [expletive] Jordan tonight the way he was getting the whistle,” Garnett said. “Durant damn near shot more free throws than our whole team.”

The newfound feud between Jackson and Durant has added more national attention to the teams’ first-round playoff matchup, which will begin Sunday at 2 p.m.