There remains no love lost between Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young and fans of the New York Knicks. A rivalry with roots in the three-time All-Stars bow after sending the Knicks home in the playoffs in 2021, Knicks fans often break out in “f*** Trae Young” chants, frequently for unrelated reasons.
However, after the Hawks got a 121-116 upset win – albeit at home – Young was able to get the last laugh.
During his postgame interview, Young acknowledged the visiting team’s fans.
“I hope these New York fans find their way to the exit real, real quick,” Young told Hawks PA voice Big Tigga after the game, eliciting boos from segments of the crowd. “Boo! Take ya’ll a** home.”
Trae said go home 😂 pic.twitter.com/l1OoKhwvVF
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) November 7, 2024
Young doubled down on his sentiments after the game during his media availability, noting Knicks fans’ exit as the “best part” of the night.
“Anytime we in Atlanta I feel like we got more people in here than they do, no matter how many fans they got in here. I know there's some real Atlanta fans in the building that were mad that they started yelling and doing what they do. This isn’t the only place they do that at. But it seems like it gets loud here, obviously,” Young said of the seemingly evenly split crowd in attendance at State Farm Arena.
“When that happens, you just try to win the game. And at the end of the game, you want your team to be cheering the loudest, and that's what happened. Our fans stayed, and they left. So that's that's the best part about it.”
Young had 23 points 10 assists, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals to just two turnovers in the win.
It is a continuation of a strong start to the 2024-25 campaign, averaging 23.8 points and career-highs of 10.9 assists and 4.6 rebounds.
He has also averaged 1.3 steals per game, tying his career-high mark set in 2023-24. It is one of the few truly tangible metrics in which Young’s commendable defensive effort shows up in the box score.
If there is a criticism, it is that his three-ball has not fallen to this point.
Trae Young's shooting woes loom as ominous sign for Hawks
Young is shooting 31% from deep and the trend of his career suggests that he might not reach the heights he did last season in that regard.
Young shot 37.3% from deep in 2023-24. But he posted a 34.3% mark in 2022-23. The three-time All-Star has alternated high-efficiency and low-efficiency seasons his entire career and the 2024-25 campaign falls on a down year.
It has not mattered yet thanks to the contributions of his teammates.
And there is a chance the Hawks just need Young to make them when they need them most. But it feels like at some point, Young’s inefficient start from deep is going to become a bigger storyline.
For now, the Hawks have found ways to win games with him continuing to score – just in the other ways that he is capable – and orchestrate the offense.