Show some respect for Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks

Photo credit: Hawks/Twitter

Trae Young has become public enemy number 1 for New York Knicks fans—a distinction that the great Reggie Miller once held. Looks like Young is also not a welcome figure in the City of Brotherly Love (Philly), after he led the Atlanta Hawks to victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Second round matchup. 

READ: Jazz and Knicks even up their series, Sixers take the commanding lead

Despite the Hawks’ blazing hot finish to the 2020-2021 regular season and them getting the 5th seed in the East, the team actually flew under the radar. Believe it or not, a lot of pundits had the Knicks eliminating the Hawks in the first round. 

However, Young and the rest of the hungry Hawks team silenced the doubters, needing just five games to dispose of the Knicks. 

The 22-year-old superstar did so as Knicks fans savagely jeered him on. The rowdy NY supporters even got personal and resorted to petty shouting about Trae Young’s hair.

READ: Hala! Jazz, Knicks, and Sixers give lifetime bans to unruly fans

Ice Trae, as his spanking new nickname suggests, is as cold as they come. That is, if you’re a fan of the opposing team. He joined the legendary Kareem Adbul-Jabbar as the only two players in history to record 30 points in their first four career playoff road games. 

Photo credit: Hawks/Twitter

That’s insane and extremely hard to pull off. Young is now considered a supervillain, as he’s made it a habit to humiliate opposing teams in their home court. He’s gone 3-1 on the road in the playoffs so far. It’s no fluke either, as he even led the Hawks to an upset win over the Sixers in Game 1 at Wells Fargo Center. 

He’s doing it with a menacing swagger, too. Young was thrilled to silence the rowdy Madison Square Garden crowd when he hit that game-winning dagger in Game 1. Young even claimed that MSG got quiet after that. 

His bravado has rubbed off on his teammates, as we even saw the usually reserved Bogdan Bogdanovic bask in the moment when he made the game-winning triple versus the Sixers in Game 1. 

It is also worth noting that Young has a friendly rivalry with his 2018 draft buddy Luka Doncic. 

READ: Kalma lang, Luka! Why Doncic should behave better on the court

After all, they were traded for one another and went neck-and-neck for that Rookie of the Year award, which eventually went to Doncic. 

Both of them became All-Stars, but it was Luka who became more popular than his batchmate. Doncic fans will probably feel salty about this, but Young already accomplished something the Slovenian hasn’t been able to do. 

Doncic may have been the first of the two to lead his team to the playoffs, but it’s actually Young who managed to get past the first round in his first playoffs, nonetheless. 

So, are you still one of Trae Young’s doubters? It’s about time you hop on the hype train because Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks are the real deal.