NBA Fines Hawks For Resting Trae Young During NBA Cup Game

The NBA issued a $100,000 fine to the Atlanta Hawks for violating the player participation policy. After an investigation, the league found that Hawks point guard Trae Young sat out an NBA Cup game on Nov. 12 despite being healthy enough to play.

“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,” NBA officials said in a statement.

At the time, the Hawks claimed that Young had to miss the game because of Achilles tendinitis. It has since been revealed that Young was healthy enough to compete, however, which violates the stricter participation policy the league instituted in 2023. Specifically, the rules forbid a list of “star” players from sitting out NBA Cup or nationally televised games without a legitimate reason.

The motivation behind this specific clause in the policy is clear, as the NBA is clearly trying to increase fan engagement in the early parts of the regular season. In the era of load management, teams have made it a habit of resting notable players in order to save them for more important games late in the season. This has diminished the value of regular season games in the public eye.

Several people have been critical of the league’s investigation, which included an assessment from an independent physician. Some have claimed that double-guessing a team’s evaluation of an injury in the interest of increased viewership could put players at risk in the future.

With a $100,000 fine hanging over teams’ heads, players may be more likely to play through medical issues. This could aggravate minor injuries and turn them into long-term setbacks, which would have the opposite effect that the policy set out to achieve.