The Toronto Raptors suffered a heartbreaking loss against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. The game was a nail-biter from start to finish, and LeBron James’ team came out with a 132-131 win. The Raptors’ head coach, Darko Rajakovic, was not happy with the decisions made by the officials in the fourth quarter. He went on a ferocious rant during the post-game interview that went viral on social media.

The rant even caught the attention of Phoenix Suns superstars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. The duo reacted to Darko’s outburst on the referees and gave him his flowers.

Kevin Durant was familiar with Darko Rajakovic’s intensity

Kevin Durant and Devin Booker revealed their thoughts about Raptors’ head coach Darko Rajakovic’s viral rant on the referees. KD was already familiar with Darko’s passion, as he had been Durant’s coach during his OKC days. “He has been that intense since then. He was like a rookie coach.” KD said. Devin Booker also appreciated Darko for sticking up for his players and voicing his opinion. “You gotta love that out of your coach,” Booker said. Both superstars revealed that they did not watch the Lakers vs. Raptors game. So, they did not make any comments about the decisions made during the fourth quarter.

LOL.

Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Frank Vogel reaction to Darko Rajaković rant over 4th quarter FT disparity in Raptors loss to Lakers.

LA: 19-23 (Anthony Davis 11-11)
TOR: 1-2 (Scottie Barnes 1-2)

Rajaković coached Durant, Booker as an assistant.#Suns at #Lakers Thursday. pic.twitter.com/G5DxTgu1uo

— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) January 11, 2024

The Raptors head coach was furious at the free throw disparity by the officials during the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s game. The Raptors got only 2 free throw attempts in the final 12 minutes, whereas LeBron James and Co. got 23 attempts on the line. That led to a 19-1 point gap just from free throws.

Rajakovic called out the referees and the league after the game, “What happened tonight, this is completely BS. This is shame.”

Darko Rajakovic’s frustration is justified

The NBA World appreciated Darko Rajakovic for his honesty and for saying out loud what many coaches and players think every day. We have seen several missed and wrong calls by the referees all season that have affected the outcome of multiple games. And this has been happening for many years. A similar thing happened with the Boston Celtics on Monday during the Pacers game. Referees missed several calls during the game and wrongly called a foul on Kristaps Porziņģis in the last second. NBA’s L2M report revealed that the call by the officials was incorrect. But that does not change the fact that the Celtics lost the game.

While the L2M report states that the referees missed two calls that would have favored the Lakers, it is important to note that the Toronto Raptors are struggling to stay afloat, and every win matters for them. So, it is understandable the decisions made during the game enraged that Rajakovic.

What do you make of Rajakovic’s outburst? Do you think the referees were biased against the Raptors?