Young criticizes 'one-sided' calls, says some referees 'take things personal'
Published
ATLANTA (AP) — Hawks All-Star guard Trae Young had some pointed comments about the officials following Atlanta's 114-108 loss to the Orlando Magic on Thursday night.
Young, who was tagged with a technical foul early in the fourth quarter, said he felt the officiating was “one-sided” in the matchup of teams jockeying for playoff seeding in the Eastern Conference.
“They shot 10 more free throws than us,” Young said. “And I mean, I feel like if you asked anybody around the league, you would know that they’re probably a more physical team that we are, and the way we drove. I mean, even some of the guys are laughing when they weren’t calling fouls.”
The Hawks were whistled for 25 fouls and the Magic 22, but Orlando had 38 free-throw attempts to Atlanta's 28. The Hawks were also called for three technical fouls and the Magic one.
Several calls early in the fourth quarter against the Hawks led to exchanges between the officials and Young and some of his teammates. Young picked up a technical after being called for a foul with 10:59 remaining, then was whistled for two more fouls inside the next minute.
He finished with 38 points and five assists.
“You just wish that you can get some refs that just don’t take things personal and understand that people grow,” Young said. “I’m not 19 anymore. I can communicate with these people, and I have with a lot of the refs. I feel like the refs have been responsive for the most part. But then you get a few, a handful that, like we get tonight, that are just, I mean, take (stuff) personal, and you can see it by the way they make their calls.”
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba