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Last summer, the NBA implemented rule changes to eliminate "non-basketball moves." Two players were directly impacted by the new rules - Trae Young and James Harden. 

Young quickly adapted and enjoyed the best individual season of his career. The 23-year-old averaged career highs in ten different statistical categories and became the second player in NBA history to lead the league in total points and assists. On the flip side, Harden had the worst season of his career (the move from Brooklyn to Philadelphia did nothing).

Last night, Harden and the Philadelphia 76ers were eliminated by the Miami Heat (coincidentally, the same team that bounced Young and the Atlanta Hawks out of the playoffs last round). 

While Harden and Young both struggled, Luka Doncic has been eating (not meant to be a joke) in the Western Conference Playoffs. As you can see in the tweet above, Young highlighted a video that showed the discrepancy in how players are officiated under the new rules.

Doncic has led the Dallas Mavericks with 31.1 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 6.9 assists per game in the playoffs. Besides Giannis Antentokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, no other player has performed as well in the postseason. 

But as Young pointed out in the video, Doncic gets a much friendlier whistle than Harden or himself. Doncic is averaging 8.1 free throw attempts per game in the postseason, whereas Young and Harden got shot just 6.6 and 6.3 attempts per game, respectively.

Mar 19, 2019; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) greets Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) after a game at State Farm Arena.

The two revolutionary guards have had to adapt to new rules this season.

But Young isn't critiquing Doncic or his ability to get to the line. Instead, his frustrations are with the officials being wildly inconsistent in how they call the game. They were heavy-handed at the beginning of the season (as you can see in Young's stat line from November) and have struggled ever since with how to interpret the new rules.

As Young typed in the tweet, he wants the officials to "focus on the basics first" and "watch for traveling." The All-Star point guard has a testy relationship with referees at best. Last month, he came within one technical foul of facing a 1-game suspension. Before that, he had been fined by the league for publicly criticizing officials after games.

Everyone knows that Young and Doncic will forever be linked after their 2018 NBA Draft Night trade. The two rivals share mutual respect and never buy into the never-ending trade debate. Let's just hope the NBA figures out its officiating issues, so we get to see fair contests between the league's brightest young stars. Stay locked into AllHawks.com for breaking news, highlights, and analysis.

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