Trae Young felt the officials had it out for his Atlanta Hawks in their loss to the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night, and he was not shy in voicing his displeasure. Young likely has a fine coming from the NBA, but he made sure to call attention to the actions of one official after the game.
Young was called for a crucial technical foul with just over three minutes remaining and the Hawks leading 113-111. The sharpshooter told reporters after the game that he felt De’Andre Hunter was fouled by Chris Paul several times on one play, and he asked a ref how he didn’t see the fouls. He said he felt it was “personal” that he was given a tech.
I asked Trae Young why he picked up a technical foul with the Hawks up 2 late in the game.
"Dre was getting hounded by CP in the post. I asked him, 'You didn't see that? You didn't see that?' He gave me a tech. I guess it's personal with some of these guys."
— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) November 7, 2021
After Young was hit with the technical, referee Kevin Scott was shown on camera making some sort of gesture toward the Hawks bench. It looked like Scott was calling someone a crybaby.
Referee Kevin Scott making crybaby eyes to someone in the direction of the Hawks' bench. I'm howling.
(h/t @Grant_Shirley4) pic.twitter.com/nsfFscDMQi
— Kevin Chouinard (@KLChouinard) November 7, 2021
Young shared the clip on Twitter and included the hashtag #WhyIsItPersonal:
🤔… Hmm Interesting.
I get fined though😂🤐 #WhyIsItPersonal https://t.co/sfwxeswiuu
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) November 7, 2021
While most people thought Scott was mocking the Hawks for whining, that may not have been the case. Those who have followed Young know he often gets on the officials for non-calls. There have been multiple instances where he mocked the refs with an “open your eyes” gesture. You can see one example from last season’s playoffs below:
Trae Young telling referee Zach Zarba to open his eyes after the questionable Joel Embiid foul call 👀pic.twitter.com/cKerBb8vHm
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 12, 2021
That would make a lot more sense. We have seen plenty of examples of Young getting heated with officials over what he perceives to be missed calls. The “open your eyes” taunt has gotten him in trouble in the past. Scott may have been making reference to that.
