Lakers’ Nick Young doesn’t believe he deserved ejection in 104-103 loss to Thunder

In normal circumstances, Lakers forward Nick Young treats interviews with reporters as a chance to show off his eclectic fashion tastes, tease teammates and tell jokes.

But not this time.

Young called Thunder center Steven Adams a “sneaky, dirty player” that led to an on-court altercation and an eventual ejection in the Lakers’ 104-103 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday at Staples Center. Young argued he “most definitely” did not deserve the ejection, an automatic ruling after being handed a flagrant foul type 2 with 11:24 remaining in the game.

“I feel bad about getting ejected, but I play with my heart on my sleeves and it shows out there,” said Young who had 10 points in 13 minutes off the bench. “I lost my mind a little bit, checked into the crazy house, got back out.”

The question in play first started when Adams set a hard screen on Young. Tired of Adams throwing what he called “little hits” that included sticking out his knee during screens, Young shoved his right forearm into Adam’s throat before officials soon separated them. Lakers center Robert Sacre and forward Carlos Boozer soon intervened, too.

“At the time, he had my left arm caught up,” Young said of Adams. “That’s all I had with my right hand. You didn’t see all that. He knows all the tricks and trades. But if you look carefully, he had my whole left arm locked in for the whole play.”

Lakers coach Byron Scott hardly expressed any sympathy toward Young.

“Adams, that how he is,” Scott said. “He’s going to grab and hold and do things to irritate you, and Nick definitely overreacted. He’s too valuable for us to overreact and get kicked out of the game like that.”

Young admitted he’s “expecting the worst” for his playing status when the Lakers (8-18) visit the Sacramento Kings (11-15) on Sunday at Sleep Train Arena.

According to the NBA rulebook, Young will face at least a $2,000 fine. If the NBA determines Young delivered a so-called “punching foul” he could draw a one-game suspension without pay and an additional $50,000 fine. Last season, Young was suspended for one game for committing a “punching foul” that hit the head of Phoenix guard Goran Dragic. Alex Len was fined $15,000 for his flagrant foul 2 that knocked Young to the floor after driving to the basket. Suns forward Marcus Morris was fined $25,000 for escalating the situation.

This season, Lakers veteran guard Ronnie Price was suspended for one game after officials gave him a flagrant foul 2 in the Lakers’ loss on Nov. 13 to New Orleans. The Lakers protested the punishment, arguing that Price attempted to stop the ball before pulling down Austin Rivers from behind.

Young also noted “it’s not my first rodeo” with Adams.

He has cemented a reputation for annoying his opponents. Nate Robinson, Vince Carter, Jordan Hamilton, Larry Sanders and Zach Randolph all were either were ejected, suspended or both last season after having altercations with Adams.

“I’m not here to tell on him or anything like that,” Young said of Adams. “He’s doing his job. He did his job today to get me out of the game. That’s what they put him in the game to do.”

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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter and on Facebook. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com