Hawks’ Trae Young fined for throwing ball into stands after buzzer-beater: ‘Can’t celebrate s— anymore’

The Atlanta Hawks got a desperately needed win Sunday night, beating the Chicago Bulls in overtime on a buzzer-beater from AJ Griffin. 

Following three free throws by Bulls guard DeMar DeRozan, Griffin caught an alley-oop near the rim, completing a difficult turnaround shot for the win. 

As Atlanta mobbed Griffin, All-Star point guard Trae Young grabbed the ball after it fell through the hoop, throwing it into the stands in his own celebration. 

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Young’s ball throw earned him a nice fine from the NBA as his wallet was $25,000 lighter on Monday. 

Young took to Twitter following the news, claiming he was unaware that chucking the ball into the stands would warrant a fine from the league. 

“Sorry to the hawks fan(s) who got a chance to touch the game winning ball,” Young posted to social media. “Didn’t know I couldn’t do that.

“Can’t Celebrate s— anymore”

The buzzer-beater by Griffin was the second of his rookie season after being drafted 16th overall in the 2022 NBA Draft out of Duke.

“The same thing was going through my head,” Griffin said after the game. “Just how fast it happens. I think coach drew up a great play and J.J. made a great pass.

“Getting that confidence from the coach to be able to go out there and execute. Even on a day when shots aren’t falling, just to continue to keep playing. Just the encouragement to keep going. On to the next one.”

Young was not the only NBA player to be fined on Monday, as Boston Celtics forward Grant Williams was fined $20,000 for punching the ball into the stands Saturday night against the Golden State Warriors. 

Williams was assessed a technical foul and ejected for the move, which occurred late in the fourth quarter of the Celtics’ loss to the Warriors. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report