Hawks' Trae Young Says NBA's New Foul Rules Create 'a Lot of Missed Calls'

Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young said the league's rule change on fouls is "frustrating" after a 122-111 loss to the Washington Wizards.

"There's a lot of missed calls," he told reporters. "It's basketball. It's just, it feels that they're learning, and they're just—I don't know. It's frustrating."

The league announced before the season it would limit calls on "non-basketball moves" designed to draw fouls. Young saw this firsthand Thursday as he was limited to 15 points while going to the free-throw line just three times.

The guard is averaging 4.4 free-throw attempts per game this season after averaging 8.7 in 2020-21.

Young noted there's a difference between what the league is trying to do with what has been implemented to start the season:

"Veering back and jumping into guys—that's different. There are certain things that, I agree with the rule changes, but then there's things that are still fouls, and guys are going to get hurt. Especially a smaller guy like me who's going up against bigger and stronger defenders, they're using their body and they're using their legs and their hands to stop me."

Several star players who are used to getting points from the free-throw line are also off to slow starts in 2021-22.

James Harden is only averaging 16.6 points per game while averaging three attempts from the charity stripe each game this year. When he won the scoring title in 2019-20, Harden averaged 11.8 free-throw attempts per game.

Young also noted Damian Lillard and Devin Booker have struggled to replicate their past scoring production.

The rule changes could force these players to make adjustments in their style of play as the season progresses.