Play-in tournaments have not been very kind to young people in recent years. Last season, he was widely criticized for his defense and for his shooting efforts of four of the 12 in his defeat to the Chicago Bulls.
But at least he managed to finish that game. That wasn’t the case as his Atlanta Hawks faced Orlando’s magic this season.
The Hawks magically lost 120-95 on Tuesday night, but in reality they managed to cut Orlando’s lead to three points in the third quarter. However, the magic blew the game out fourth, and Young wasn’t too pleased with it. After creating a runner that can’t handle the game, Young was given a technical foul to throw the ball to the officials. And before the game resumed, he was given two seconds to kick the ball, thus being kicked out for the rest of 4:47.
After the match, pool reporter Jason Biede asked umpire James Williams why Young was kicked out. Williams didn’t write the words, but Young said he made “game ock ha ha.”
“He kicked the ball while trying to film a free throw for his first technical foul and made the game’s ock laugh, and when the player received a foul like two sportsman, he got a technical foul like the second sportsman,” Williams said.
But the ball kicked was not the end of things. After ejection, Young, who scored a game-high 28 points, grabbed the ball and refused to return it, so play resumed. As the broadcast pointed out, he’s pretty sure the Hawks will be fined for doing so before they play their next play-in game against the Heat or the Bulls on Friday.
Young’s Play-In performance now has a series of seasons of successive seasons in terms of both his play and his actions, and will certainly take into account Atlanta’s ideas this summer, considering Young would offer a contract extension a year before he became a free agent in 2026.
Rumors suggest Young might look for a new home after the season, indicating that on Tuesday, at least Tuesday, he is frustrated with the way the Hawks are handling these highly leveraged games. Atlanta can get back on track on Friday, but the postseason got off to a rough start on Tuesday for the entire Hawks organization.
