Young ejected during play-in loss, as frustration boils over

Atlanta guard says unsportsmanlike conduct was 'making a statement' over teammates' treatment

Atlanta's star guard Trae Young threw a hard pass and showed off a little fancy ball handling. Ordinarily, those are good things.

Doing it against referees is frowned upon, however — and the NBA said he was "making a mockery of the game".

Young's frustration with how the Hawks' play-in game at Orlando was going finally boiled over with 4:47 left Tuesday night, when he earned a pair of technical fouls — one for rifling a chest pass at referee James Williams, then the second moments later, when he deflected the ball with his foot and wouldn't give it up promptly to referee Pat Fraher.