Hawks' Trae Young dishes on Jalen Johnson, All-Star voting & more in AMA session

The Atlanta Hawks have gotten to enjoy a couple of days off in between games, prompting star point guard Trae Young to take to social media and allow his 1.7 million followers on X to ask him some questions.

Young shed light on his favorite superhero (Superman), movie (He Got Game), and even his dream car (Audi A8, matte black, of course). 

He picked the late Kobe Bryant as the one player he wishes he could play with.

But when it came to more personal topics in terms of his stature around the league and his teammates, Young’s sentiments were much more reflective of his assist-heavy playing style than the (sometimes overarching) scorer.

Asked what it was like to play with rising star forward Jalen Johnson, Young compared it to an all-time classic pairing.

“Peanut butter & Jelly ~ just flows,” Young said, quoting fans’ questions as he went.

The Hawks have a plus-0.1 net efficiency differential when Young is on the floor, per Cleaning The Glass. That number jumps to plus-2.3 when Johnson is on the floor alongside Young, putting pressure on defenses.

Young previously progressed how much Johnson meant to the Hawks, noting that he even told Johnson’s father as much.

“He brings a lot to us,” Young said via the team after the loss to Memphis. “I saw his dad courtside and saw his family there tonight – I think they're all here for Christmas – and was telling him I'm ready for his son to be back and help us.”

Young was also asked about his thoughts on being an All-Star this season.

Hawks' Trae Young urges fans to vote for him to be an All-Star, roots for teammates

He is averaging 28.3 points and 11.3 assists while shooting 38.5% from beyond the arc. But he has also been left off the All-Star rosters in three of the last four seasons. That includes his historic 2021-22 campaign that saw him lead the league in both scoring and points, something that hadn’t been done since the 60s.

“Tbh not as much as I used too [sic],” Young said. “I hope I can rep my fans, the city, the organization in it of course !! So vote. But more worried about Bogi in 3pt & young guys getting their love! Respect for me will continue to come, I’m not worried.”

Young has been candid in the past about needing the fans to help get him into the annual festivities.

This year, Bogdan Bogdanovic has a chance to not only participate in the three-point contest – he is shooting 37.9% on 8.8 attempts per game – but also win Sixth Man of the Year, ranking seventh among all scorers with at least 20 games off the bench.

Young also answered questions about his favorite (fans seeing him for the first time) and least favorite (long travel and back-to-backs) parts of the game, and declined to name his favorite city.

He and the Hawks return to work with a home date against the Oklahoma City Thunder on January 3. OKC is riding a four-game winning streak and has dropped just one of their last eight contests. They also beat the Hawks in the first meeting in early November.