Trae Young was quick to call out the NBA and his colleague D’Angelo Russell, for his actions, after the insane 145-144 double-overtime game between the Warriors and the Lakers. Young took to an Instagram post from Sports Centre and commented,
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“They was light on my boy! I got the 25[000].”
This comment from Trae Young points to the fact that D’Angelo was slapped with a $10,000 fine for kicking the game ball at the final buzzer, whereas the Hawks guard was handed an even heftier fine for a similar incident. Additionally, Russell even commented under the Sports Centre video, hilariously writing, “Swear, I tried to miss it.”
Trae Young’s comments refer to his $25,000 fine which he incurred during a recent game against the Chicago Bulls. After scoring a triple, with just one second left, Young was feeling himself, hyping up his home crowd. But Demar Derozan would go on to sink three crucial free throws with just 0.5 seconds left, leaving Atlanta in a pinch.
However, youngster AJ Griffin and Jalen Johnson would execute a beautiful alley-opp maneuver in the dying milliseconds, closing the game for the Hawks. Deciding to celebrate the moment, Trae Young would proceed to lob the game ball into the stands, resulting in a $25,000 fine.
The great kickers of the NBA
To many fans, journalists, and players alike, the league has gotten a little too “prude” and “soft” with their fines. The league has been heavily criticized for its “whistle friendly” and ” disciplinarian” image. Though the league has indeed gotten softer as the years have gone by, for some reason, the refs and the league have always been “strict” when it comes to kickball fouls.
Just last year, Grizzlies shooting guard Desmond Bane was slapped with a $15k fine when he accidentally kicked a ball, resulting in it going out of bounds. The act from Bane most definitely seemed innocent, lacking any aggression and malice (to waste time or abrupt the flow of the game).
But sometimes, players do kick the ball, to launch it into the stratosphere. With emotions often running high, it’s understandable, but not so much for the league. Back in 2004, Tracy McGrady and the Magic were playing against Carmelo Anthony and the Nuggets, a game that seemed heated from the tip.
The Magic were being physically tortured throughout the meeting, even though they stayed up during the whole contest. During the last possession of the half, McGrady would go up for a fast break lay-up, that would be swatted away by a young Anderson “The Birdman”.
But the contest from Birdman wasn’t clean and resulted in McGrady tumbling into cameramen and spectators in the front row. Angry about not receiving a Whistle, McGrady would kick the game ball into the stands, after which he was booked for a technical. But Denver fans didn’t quite have enough of the spectacle, as they threw the ball back to McGrady, who would repeat his actions, resulting in the Magic legend being kicked out of the game.
