Trae Young was visibly frustrated during the Hawks’ play-in tournament elimination on Tuesday night, as he witnessed his team fall defeated by 25 points. With 5 minutes left to the final buzzer, he threw a hard pass at the referees, earning his second technical foul of the night and an automatic ejection.
The officials described the Atlanta star’s play as “making a mockery of the game,” considering he even showed off some fancy ballhandling before throwing the ball at ref James Williams. Seconds later, he deflected the ball with his foot and wouldn’t give it up to official Pat Fraher.
“Trae Young received his first unsportsmanlike technical foul for throwing the ball at a game official,” Williams told reporters after the game about the play that occurred with 4:47 left in the clock, as Atlanta was heading into certain elimination.
When James was asked about why Trae received his second technical, he explained that the player’s behaviour had been “unsportsmanlike, to say the least. “He received his second unsportsmanlike technical foul for kicking the ball away and making a mockery of the game.
“As we were attempting to shoot the free throw for the first technical foul, and by rule when the player receives two unsportsmanlike fouls, he’s ejected from the game,” the referee told the pool reporters about a frustrated Young, as the Hawks were down by 22 points at that point.
The Georgia franchise went on to lose 120-95, and are now set to back up their bags for summer, as their season came to another disappointing conclusion. After the game, Trae excused his actions by saying he was making a statement on behalf of his teammates.
“Sometimes when I take my frustration out on the refs, it’s not just for me,” Young explained. “It’s for my teammates. I see Dyson Daniels going; he may not be a household name yet, but he deserves the same amount of respect as some of these other guys. If you see a foul, you should call a foul. That’s pretty much all it was for me.”
