Atlanta Hawks Rookie Trae Young Ejected Due to Making Kris Dunn Feel Bad

In last night’s Atlanta Hawks win against the Bulls, the focus was on an ejected Trae Young instead of the game’s result. Young was ejected given his second technical for the crime of staring at Kris Dunn’s back.

Trae Young is giving Atlanta Hawks fans a reason to be excited about basketball in Atlanta again. The rookie has been tearing up the league posting three straight 30+ point games before yesterday’s game against the Bulls.

Young was given a double-technical along with Kris Dunn for an altercation earlier in the game. Dunn swatted Trae on the head, which unsurprisingly didn’t sit well with the rookie point guard.

While it shouldn’t have been given the technical was at least explainable and within the realm of sensical fouls.

In the third quarter with 18-points and a surging Hawks offense, Young shot a three from just over the logo holding his shooting motion and staring down Kris Dunn who was walking towards the bench.

The official seeing this as a time to show out and put on a show threw out Young for the crime of staring down Dunn.  To be clear Dunn didn’t turn around nor did Trae Young say anything, a fact that was confirmed by Young and the official’s report after the game.

This laughably soft move was one that wouldn’t dare have been used against the NBA’s elite. Or even a veteran player. It was a terrible decision to throw out one of the League’s best young players for showing emotion.

Emotion this game has lacked far too often with the rules changing. Young’s 30-point streak was ended prematurely by a referee wanting to show out without any justifiable cause.

Staredowns are a well-established part of the game, and even if they weren’t Young was looking at Dunn’s back saying absolutely nothing. It is a reminder that NBA officiating is flawed, a problem the League should address soon.