Soaring Down South
Fansided

Why Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young was not named an All-Star

By Gordon Robinson

ATLANTA, GA - NOVEMBER 10: Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks reacts during the first half against the Philadelphia 76ers at State Farm Arena on November 10, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - NOVEMBER 10: Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks reacts during the first half against the Philadelphia 76ers at State Farm Arena on November 10, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images) /
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This season, Atlanta Hawks (28-28) star point guard Trae Young is averaging 26.8 points per game to go with 10 assists. He’s 11th in the league in scoring (matching Donovan Mitchell, an All-Star) and he is the third leader on the assists board.  He has 27 double-doubles this season, but yet he is not in the NBA All-Star Game this season.

He didn’t put up enough numbers to win the fan vote and he didn’t get voted in by the coaches. Many Hawks fans are confused about how a player of Young’s stature not be included in the game. I have a few ideas about how that happened.

My first theory is rather simple. Young is playing the role of the villain in the NBA. Think about how he’s received by crowds like in New York where they shout “Blank you, Trae Young!” Many fans and commentators have commented that they do not like his style of play and called him a foul baiter, I have heard ESPN’s Bomani Jones equate it to “insurance fraud.”

Another possibility is the fact that the Hawks are not commonly seen on national television. This season the Hawks were slated to have 18 nationally televised games. Of those games, 10 of them were on NBA TV, five were on ESPN, and three were on TNT.

Do the games on NBA TV really count?

Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young deserved to be an All-Star

With that in mind, Young has a limited time frame to win over the audience and so far he hasn’t. The Hawks played their newly rivaled Knicks on ESPN on December 7th and Young totaled 19 points and six assists in a blowout loss.

On January 18th, Atlanta went to Dallas where the hype is always around who won the trade swapping Young and Mavericks star Luka Doncic. The game was on ESPN and while the Hawks won the game, Young put up 18 points and 12 assists. While those numbers are nice, Doncic dropped 30 points to go with eight assists in the loss.

Who looks more like the All-Star in that scenario?

Young has had some big games with impressive play. But often times it’s only for a local audience. When you don’t hit the gaudy shots and big numbers on the big stage, oftentimes people will forget what you can do and all they will remember is that they don’t really like you.

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That is how you find yourself not invited to the NBA All-Star Game even though you deserve to be there.