NBA fans voted for Atlanta Hawks superstar Trae Young in droves, believing him to be the second-best backcourt player in the Eastern Conference. The only Eastern Conference backcourt player who was seen to be better is DeMar DeRozan of the Chicago Bulls who is having one of the best seasons of his career.
Young was selected to play on Team Durant alongside Joel Embiid, Ja Morant, Andrew Wiggins, and Jayson Tatum who is the replacement starter for the injured captain Kevin Durant. He was one of the last starters chosen but this does not really matter given the quality of the players who were voted as All-Star starters.
The other guards chosen before Young were Morant, Stephen Curry, and DeRozan. AS mentioned earlier, DeRozan is having an MVP-type season, Curry is a two-time league MVP, and Morant is having yet another incredible season.
Why Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young deserves to play in his second All-Star game.
After being snubbed last season, Young responded to said snub by giving the NBA a lesson on offense. He took this all the way through to the Eastern Conference Finals when he was stopped by a freak injury to his ankle after stepping on the referee’s foot against the Milwaukee Bucks.
This season the Hawks have been struggling thanks to injury issues and the Covid-19 crisis. This has not stopped Young from being the only player in the NBA who is in the top five of the NBA in both points and assists per game. It has been a masterclass offensively by the floor general which has helped the Hawks to the second-best offensive rating in the league.
There is no doubt that Trae Young deserves to be an All-Star. The narrative is changing around the diminutive point guard, especially thanks to the way he played on the national stage of the playoffs for the Atlanta Hawks.