Hawks’ Trae Young sends strong message on ‘legacy’

Ahead of the release of the third iteration of his signature sneaker, Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young shared an ad showcasing the ‘Trae Young 3s’ on July 28. He recently shared some images from that ad with an additional caption.

“When your why is driven by leaving a legacy beyond the court, you can’t expect anything less than fearless confidence on it,” Young tweeted on July 31.​

Those are notable words, to say the least, and are a theme for the two-time All-Star.

While Young acknowledged the Hawks’ surprise run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2020-21, Young also spoke on his podcast, ‘From The Point by Trae Young’, about wanting to accomplish more than he has, namely winning a title. In his eyes, there is always something else to achieve and the title is the ultimate prize.

He noted how disappointing it has been for the Hawks to have regressed over the last two seasons. They are coming off of back-to-back first-round exits, first to the Miami Heat in 2021-22 and the Celtics this past season.

“It’s tough when you’re declining, and when you go from the Conference Finals down,” said Young on June 9.

“But it’s so hard to get to that point.”

To that end, the Hawks have made the postseason three years running despite the back-to-back early exits the last two years. They were a perennial playoff contender from 2007-08 through 2016-17 and have qualified for the playoffs in 50 of their 74 previous seasons of existence dating back to their days in St. Louis in the 50s.

Young comments about legacy also resonate because that is the lesson his younger brother, Timothy who narrated the ad, says he has learned from watching the Hawks star over the years.

Hawks’ Trae Young puts former NBA champion big man on blast

While Young has starred for the Hawks since he entered the NBA, he watched plenty Oklahoma City Thunder (and Hornets) basketball coming up.

For a notable period of time, that would have included former NBA big man-turned-analyst Kendrick Perkins who played for OKC from the 2010-11 season to the beginning of the 2014-15 campaign. But the 2008 NBA champion Boston Celtic recently got noticed by Young for a different reason.

“Word on the street is @KendrickPerkins getting double techs in kids AAU games,” Young tweeted on July 30. “I don’t blame you fam, had to leave Vegas early because of the same reason.”

Perkins would defend himself on NBA Today on July 31.

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1686106611931029504

Young’s Team Trae Young, which features his younger brother, won the Bigfoot Hoops XL Las Vegas Classic on July 30. He celebrated the win with a post on social media, and his comments to Perkins may explain why.

The Hawks’ point guard has drawn his fair share of technical fouls in NBA games over the years. This past season, he was ejected after he threw the ball in the direction of one official while disputing a call with another, and he was tossed from a game against the Chicago Bulls in 2019 under even more dubious circumstances.

Atlanta certainly needs him to be on the floor more than not. Fortunately for them is not a major issue.