How Nick Young Lost His Swag After This Hard Foul By Anthony Tolliver

Lakers’ Nick Young ejected for shoving Pistons’ Anthony Tolliver pic.twitter.com/0CG0PaEFOX

— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) December 7, 2015

It hasn’t been a good season thus far for Swaggy P. Nick Young is averaging his fewest points and minutes since the 2009-10 season in Washington, and he’s been seeing more and more “DNP – Coach’s Decision” stat lines pile up in recent weeks thanks to the Lakers’ crowded backcourt of D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Kobe Bryant and Lou Williams.

Although Young recently called the Lakers a “circus,” his coach is insisting that Young’s decreasing playing time is just about “trying something new.” Young did get some minutes in the Lakers matchup with the Pistons on Sunday, but only seven, as he was ejected for shoving and getting into the face of Anthony Tolliver after a hard foul.

There was clearly some contact, but it didn’t look at all like Tolliver was out of line with his play as he went up trying to get the ball and prevent an easy layup. However, Young didn’t see it that way, and he immediately lunged at Tolliver with both hands before being restrained by Marcus Morris and Steve Blake.

Hitting someone in mid-air can be a scary moment, so Young’s reaction isn’t as odd as it might first appears. That said, he he was asked about it after the game, Young wasn’t exactly apologetic, and it’s clear the reaction wasn’t to the foul as much as his season-long struggles, overall. Per ESPN:

“I didn’t punch him or nothing,” Young said. “I pushed him. It shouldn’t be that bad.” Though he pressed his forearm into Tolliver’s throat, Young said, “It’s still not his face, though.”

Young did admit however that there was more to his reaction than just Tolliver’s foul.

“It’s tough,” he said. “There’s a lot of frustration. It’s a struggle and it’s building up. Everything happened on that play. He just happened to be the one that sparked the incident.”

Call me crazy, but getting ejected in the game after you get two consecutive DNP-CD’s is not exactly the greatest way to get yourself more playing time.