A quick look at NBA legend Steve Nash’s recent comments about Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young.
Trae Young has been a joy to watch during his (so far) short tenure with the Atlanta Hawks, but fans can expect for him to improve and continue to provide dazzling highlights on a night-to-night basis – hopefully for the rest of his career as a member of the Hawks.
Young’s truly elite talent is passing and piloting an offense to above-average levels, similar to a former brilliant passer from recent NBA history: Steve Nash.
We have previously compared Young to Nash, as well as a far more in-depth discussion of how the Hawks’ young core of Young, John Collins and Kevin Huerter can be compared to three pillars of the “seven seconds or less” Phoenix Suns teams of the early 2000s.
Now, Nash has chimed in on the topic of Young in a recent interview with Marc J. Spears of the Undefeated:
"“We’re as similar as players from different eras can be. He has wonderful vision and passing ability. But he is also a great scorer, shooter. He is growing up in an era where point guards have more of the liberty to attack first. If he had grown up in my era, he might have been a pass-first point guard because he has an incredible eye for it.”"
Beyond Young’s brilliant passing vision, Nash also likened Young’s three-level scoring ability to his own:
"“We’re similar in our skill set. We both shoot. We both like to score from all three levels: deep, mid-range, floaters that finish at the rim. We’re creative around the rim because we’re not as explosive as some of our contemporaries.”"
Indeed, Young’s floater game is one of his most lethal weapons, especially when compared to a terrific roll man such as Collins or, hopefully, Bruno Fernando as they can take away defensive pressure from Young.
Year two will be a fascinating one for the Rookie of the Year runner-up, but it’s good to hear an NBA legend speak so highly of a player that still receives backlash despite being a clearly brilliant offensive player.