Hawks' Trae Young Fined $15K for Making Contact with Ref During Loss to Wizards

The NBA on Friday fined Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young $15,000 for making contact with an official during Thursday's 122-111 loss against the Washington Wizards.

He received a technical for the contact, making him one of five players to get one in the contest.

Young was not pleased with the officiating afterwards.

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

Young then focused on the NBA's emphasis on referees to not call fouls when offensive players seek contact. He's been something of a serial offender when it comes to foul-hunting.

"You can watch basketball," he said. "Damian Lillard's never averaged 17 points probably since his rookie year. There's a couple guys. I mean, [Devin Booker's] averaging 18. There's a lot of things that, when guys are driving straight and guys are getting knocked off balance—it's still a foul, whether they're using their lower body or their hands."

James Harden, another serial foul-hunter, hasn't been happy with the changes either.

"I'm not the type to complain about it. I asked every official if they see a foul, just call a foul," he told reporters this week. "Sometimes I feel like coming into a game it's already predetermined. I already have that stigma of getting foul calls—a foul is a foul no matter what league it is."

Others love the changes, however:

Young will have to adjust.

After utilizing his ability to get to the foul line as a major component of his offensive game—he averaged 9.3 free-throw attempts per game in 2019-20 and 8.7 last season—Young is at just 4.4 this season.

He'll have to use the guile he showed in drawing fouls to generate other creative ways to score in the new NBA.