Count Atlanta Hawks’ guard Trae Young among those who tuned into the Denver Nuggets’ NBA Championship parade on June 15.
Young took to Twitter to express his thoughts on the newly minted NBA champs and their coach Michael Malone, as well as their star, two-time MVP Nikola Jokic.
“Jokic ain’t gotta say s*** about himself, Young tweeted amid the celebration. “Coach Malone gonna do it for him.”
Young appears to be referencing Jokic’s soft-spoken demeanor, which was revealed by his less-than-enthusiastic immediate reaction to reaching the NBA mountaintop.
Instead, at the Nuggets’ parade on Thursday, it was head coach Malone who seemed to be doing most of the flaunting.
Michael Malone is ruthless 😆🍾 pic.twitter.com/K1QjLwuoJy
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 15, 2023
This is not the first time this postseason that Malone has done the brunt of the talking on his team’s behalf. Back in May, Malone minced no words when he put the NBA media on blast for their unbalanced coverage of his team when compared to their Western Conference Finals opponents, the Los Angeles Lakers, who are led of course by one of the most famous players of all time in LeBron James.
The disparity in coverage continued when Malone’s Nuggets swept the Lakers 4-0 and still appeared to be an afterthought, with most media narratives following the series focusing more on the Lakers’ season and future rather than the Nuggets’ present success.
One person who appears thoroughly unbothered by all of the perceived disrespect is Denver’s star center Jokic, who cemented himself as one of the game’s all-time great big men this postseason en route to the championship.
Jokic has never been one to care about media coverage or accolades, which became especially apparent when it was revealed that he has already lost his newly-earned Finals MVP trophy.
“Remember when I said I didn’t wanna stay for parade? I want to f*****g stay for parade” - NIKOLA JOKIC #Nuggets pic.twitter.com/gJR2PJVyuJ
— Dago Cordova (@dago_deportes) June 15, 2023
Young, on the other hand, does not necessarily have a reputation as someone who practices stoicism on the basketball court. Take for example his first foray into the NBA postseason experience, when he made a game-winning floater against the New York Knicks and promptly cursed out the most hostile crowd in the association. A few days later, he mimicked spitting and then took a bow on the iconic Madison Square Garden floor.
Or you could turn to this year, where he made another iconic NBA venue his oyster by hopping into his “shiver” celebration following an ice-cold game-winner at TD Garden against the Boston Celtics.
Young also has a bit of a track record for using post-game press conferences as a way to express himself as opposed to dodging tough questions, which has sometimes backfired.
Trae Young’s comments backfired on Atlanta Hawks
Take last year for example, when the point guard, fresh off of that magical 2021 postseason run, opined that the regular season was “a lot more boring” than the NBA playoffs, a soundbite for which he was quickly and rightly criticized. It didn’t help matters that Young and his team were the embodiments of mediocrity throughout that 2022 season en route to a gentleman’s sweep at the hands of the Miami Heat.
Still, it’s nice to see that Young understands the value of a star player in Jokic taking a backseat and letting people run freely with whatever narratives they want to push, with the knowledge that results on the basketball court will ultimately do the talking.
Young and his backcourt costar Dejounte Murray are far from the most obnoxious duo in the league in terms of trash-talking and antics, but it has occasionally backfired on them, as it did in a November 2022 game against the Houston Rockets, where the two laughed and taunted their way to a large lead and by the time they started to take things more seriously, the Rockets had already stormed back and won the game.
Perhaps the best version of Young will find a happy medium between that extreme and the icy demeanor of Jokic. After all, basketball is meant to be fun and expressive, and a large part of the reason that Atlanta fell in love with Young so quickly was the edge he plays with, unafraid and unabashed no matter how daunting the opponent or road arena.
Whatever route he chooses to go, let’s hope it translates to a few more wins in 2023-24.