Trae Young has been one of the figureheads for the NBA’s changes to how referees call fouls on unorthodox movement by offensive players designed to draw fouls, but on Friday he drew a fine from the league for a different reason: making contact with an official during a 122-111 loss to Washington.
The $15,000 fine created yet another layer to the discourse around Young’s playing style and frustration with referees, but the chatter seemed to cross a line for him Friday evening when he took to Twitter to explain himself.
“Not THAT mad,” Young wrote.
I mean relax.. not THAT mad
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) October 29, 2021
Young has only attempted 22 free throws through the first five games of his season compared with the start of 2021-22 when he put up 64 free throws in the first five contests. The All-Star guard has a career free-throw rate of 41.4 percent but so far this season, he is taking just 22 free throws for every 100 field-goal attempts. While it might add some stress into his approach to the game, Young is still scoring 25.5 points per 36 minutes and the Hawks have opened the season 3-2.
With all that said, it’s easy to see why Young wanted to calm things down a little bit as the narrative started to get out of control that he was somehow feuding with the officials.