NBA makes final punishment decision on Trae Young after Atlanta Hawks broke little-known rule in tournament clash
Following a ruling regarding Trae Young, the NBA has harshly criticized the Atlanta Hawks.
Late Tuesday evening, the league made their penalty public.
On November 12, Young, 26, was benched during a game against the Boston Celtics.
After looking into the situation, the NBA concluded that Young was fit enough to have participated.
The Atlanta Hawks were also fined $100,000 for breaking the league’s player participation rules.
Players who miss nationally televised games to manage their loads are subject to harsher penalties from the league.
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Because the match on November 12 was also an Emirates NBA Cup match, the NBA came under further scrutiny.
“Following an investigation, including review by an independent physician, the NBA determined that the Hawks held Young out of a game that he could have played in under the medical standard in the policy,” the league stated in a statement.
“The organization’s conduct violated the policy, which is intended to promote participation in the NBA s regular season.”
The Hawks announced that Young would not play because of right Achilles tendonitis.
Three days after missing the Celtics game, he came back to play the Washington Wizards.
Young has participated in 17 of the 18 games Atlanta has played so far this season.
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Even though Young was not present, Atlanta won the game 117-116.
If the Hawks violate the rule a second time, they will now be subject to a $250,000 fine.
And there would be a $1 million fine for each additional regulation violation.
The league wants all of its stars to compete in the new event because it is eager to preserve the NBA Cup.
They recently reached a huge sponsorship agreement with Emirates.
How the NBA Cup works
This year marked the return of the NBA Cup for a second season, with Las Vegas hosting the finals once more.
From November 12 to December 3, the 30 teams were divided into six groups of five teams each, and games were played on Tuesdays and Fridays.
On December 10 and 11, the top two wild cards and the six group winners move on to the quarterfinals.
Additionally, the last four will go to Las Vegas for the December 14 semifinals and December 17 final.
With the exception of the title game, every game counts toward the team’s regular-season record.
Additionally, starting next season, Amazon Prime will pay $1.8 billion annually for the rights to the tournament’s later stages.
ESPN will broadcast live coverage of this year’s Las Vegas final on December 17.
Alongside Mike Breen and Doris Burke, Richard Jefferson will take over as the principal broadcaster for the game.
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The current and first NBA Cup champions are the Los Angeles Lakers.
In the previous year’s championship game in Las Vegas, LeBron James led his team to victory over the Indiana Pacers.
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