About two weeks into this season, Trae Young already felt like giving up.
By late October, the NBA's new rules for eliminating on-court trickery for trapping defenders into fouls were in full force, and Young was feeling like the prime target. He was even featured in the video the league sent to all teams showing the plays they were no longer going to call shooting fouls. Twice.
He growled at officials in-game that the changes had gone too far. He complained publicly that he was being unfairly singled out. Then, on Oct. 28, the Atlanta Hawks guard bumped into official Ben Taylor while complaining about a non-call as he ran back up the floor -- Young has sworn it was an accident. He was assessed a technical foul during the game and then fined $15,000 for the incident.
The league office called a small news conference shortly after that to announce they were happy with the new rules. In other words: everyone should get used to it.
Young had to come to grips with his new reality.
"[I thought] I'm not going to win," Young said last week. "I knew the officiating wasn't going to be on my side this year. I had to get to the point where I was going to leave the refs alone."
Young has, cutting down the complaints and scaling back on the plays the NBA wanted eliminated from the game this season, such as hooking defenders' arms as he gathered to shoot or veering sideways into chasing defenders to create contact. And in doing so, it has kicked off some of the best play of his career.
With all of the grumbling from star players about the new rule interpretations -- and praise from others like Draymond Green thrilled at the change to help defenders -- things in the NBA have normalized.
Two months into the season, complaints have largely ceased and referees have scaled back a little after aggressive early enforcement. Season-over-season analysis shows that fouls are virtually the same from a year ago with about 1.5 fewer free throws per game.
"We made some mistakes early on, but we've made some adjustments just like the players," Monty McCutchen, NBA vice president and head of referee development and training, said. "We've been able to maintain the gains we made with the changes."
Overall scoring is down five points a game, shooting is down about 1.5% and games are being played slightly slower for reasons, such as another short offseason and the new ball, that are still being studied.
But it's roughly the same number of whistles with slightly less baiting of defenders to get to the line. The result: exactly the way the rule adjustment was supposed to work.
"We knew it was going to [stabilize], not just for myself but for the entire league settling in," said Brooklyn Nets guard James Harden who, along with Young, was the unofficial biggest target of the changes.
"We know the officials try to be their best," he said. "They watch film just like we do. Everybody is working together."
Harden is averaging 7.4 free throws per game this season; he averaged 7.3 with the Nets last year.
"At first, it was like every time James drives to the basket you're looking for the points of emphasis," Nets coach Steve Nash said. "There's so many times in a game where he's got the ball going through traffic, and I don't care how you slice and dice the rulebook, it's a foul. They've done a good job of recognizing that and adjusting and we're back to a better place right now."
Early in the season, the Nets felt the rules were being misapplied to Harden and sent in clips to the league to back up their point. This is a common occurrence in the league and, in this case, it seems to have helped smooth tensions.
"Our role is to be consistent enough that coaches can coach to it and players can make proper adjustments," McCutchen said. "I'm thrilled with all three groups' [coaches, players and referees] ability to align and work through the imperfections. We have to continue to do the work."
Other stars who felt the changes have also found ways to deal with the rules. The Phoenix Suns' Devin Booker is averaging about 1.6 fewer free throws per game this season. And though he's been out the last two weeks with a hamstring injury, Booker is shooting a career-best 40% from 3-point range, up 6% from last season.
Portland Trail Blazers' star Damian Lillard, another perceived target of the changes, hasn't fared as well. He's averaging two free throws less per game this season but has slumped shooting the ball, possibly related to an abdominal injury that has caused him to miss six games. He's averaging his fewest free throws and points since his rookie season in 2012-13.
For Young, the adjustment might have come with some kicking and screaming, but the fourth-year guard has made them.
Young is averaging about 2.5 fewer free throws this season than last, and there's no question some of his repertoire has been taken away. He had become an expert at initiating contact and using deception to bait defenders and officials as he played toward what the referees called.
But he's averaging about two more points a game this season than last and has seen a boost in his 3-point shooting, up about 5% to career-high 39%.
"I talked to him about it, he was frustrated," Hawks coach Nate McMillan said of Young, who led the NCAA in scoring in his one year at Oklahoma. "He's focused on playing his game and not allowing the officials to be a distraction."
The rule adjustments are no longer a dominant nightly topic and don't appear, regardless of the early noise, that they will define this season.
"I've played some good basketball without needing the refs," Young said. "I've always done well."