Why wasn't Kevin Durant ejected for launching ball into stands against Pacers?

Nets star Kevin Durant launched a ball into the stands at the Barclays Center during the third quarter of Brooklyn's game against the Indiana Pacers on Friday night after a foul by T.J. McConnell.

Durant wasn't ejected. But according to NBA rules, he should've been.

"Any player who throws or kicks the ball directly into the stands with force, regardless of the reason or where it lands, will be assessed a technical foul and ejected."

After the game, crew chief Sean Wright explained the call.

"In real time, the official that made the call did not think the ball entered the stands with force," Wright said. "After seeing the video postgame, we did see that the ball did go into the stands with force, and Kevin Durant should’ve been ejected.”

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle was extremely unhappy with the non-ejection.

"I think I saw Kevin Durant wind up and throw the ball overhand 10 or 15 rows into the stands, and not get ejected. I think that’s what I saw. And so that was shocking," Carlisle said.

"I'm not going to share the explanation. I don't want to embarrass the officials. I don't want to embarrass the league. I just don't," he continued. "These guys are nice guys, and they just made a big error. The league will address it. You don't want to hear the explanation. At this point, it doesn't matter. It's not going to change the outcome."

For Durant's part, he claimed to not know the rule.

"I tried to hit the backboard. But I shouldn't have did it," he said. "I don’t know what I was thinking. I thought I was at the gym by myself in a pickup game, not an NBA game. I can’t do that. I could have cost my team a game. But it won't happen again."

Fans weren't exactly surprised by the preferential treatment Durant received.

Follow IndyStar trending sports reporter Matthew VanTryon on Twitter @MVanTryon and email him story ideas at matthew.vantryon@indystar.com.