Piece by: Patrick Ong
Patrick Ong is a writer out of Long Beach. For writing about anything and everything, check out his WordPress. Check out his Twitter for more thoughts and memes.
In the wake of the Knicks/Hawks series, I saw the clip of Spider Cuz (Google him) going around asking inebriated New Yorkers how they feel about Trae Young. One fan said that Young "...looks like my dad's dick. I've never seen my dad's dick. He still looks like shit." You can almost see the bewildered look on Spider Cuz's face through his mask. A "Pause." that cut through the air like Trae Young hitting a 3-pointer from the logo, silencing the crowd.
After ending the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7 to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, Young has drawn the ire of some of the NBA's largest (and most vocal) fanbases. In his playoff debut, he and his ragtag team of Atlanta Hawks--Young being the only All-Star--have battled through the hostile streets of New York and Philadelphia. From starting the season with a 14-20 record, they fired their head coach Lloyd Pierce and hired Nate McMillan. McMillan was a hire that made minimal noise due to his reputation of being a solid coach that did not elevate his teams to notable heights. With Atlanta taking Game 1 against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Hawks are the ultimate Cinderella story. In that, Young is their pièce de résistance.
While Young is emerging as a future centerpiece of the NBA’s main cast, he is not without his qualms. However, it has nothing to do with his ability to get buckets. He is unflappable, supremely talented, and possesses an unlimited range. His doubts only come with his attitude and surefire self-confidence. This leads me to believe that combined with his postseason success, Young is next in line of great NBA villains. Once a mantle held by the likes of Ron Artest (or Metta World Peace and most recently Metta Sandiford-Artest), Kevin Garnett, The Bad Boys Pistons, and a slew of others in the NBA's pantheon of unlikable players, Trae Young does it his own way. Young stands at 6’1” so he doesn’t rough up opposing players. In fact, he’s abysmal on defense. On the flip side, his offensive game is enough to completely demoralize opponents.
There are certain reasons for this. The most obvious example would be the way he plays the game. While Young is insanely talented at what he does--driving to the rim, shooting threes from long-range, drawing defenders so he can make timely passes--he also is actively hunting for fouls every chance he can get. This leads to frustration by many, as it slows down the game while Young approaches the free throw line to shoot a pair. While free throws are part of the game, Trae Young shoots on average 8.7 free throws per game. This annoys defenders who rack up early foul trouble and viewers who criticize the NBA for interrupting the flow of the game too much. Not to mention this next series Young will match up with Giannis Antetekounmpo--whose nearly 30-second free throw routine has been gaining much attention (and annoyance) lately.
Brooklyn Nets coach Steve Nash, who Young has cited as "[his] favorite player of all time" has criticized Young's tendency to draw fouls. Nash said, "That's not basketball." Now, as a young player, hearing that from your idol should be heartbreaking. However, Young took it in stride and said "I bet if I was playing for Steve, he'd be happy," in an interview with The Athletic. He continued, saying, "I learned a lot about drawing fouls from him...If he says it's not basketball, he must've been saying it about himself because he's done it a couple of times throughout his career and was so successful."
Timing is also key in crowning Young as the next chief antagonist of the NBA. Not only has Trae Young angered many NBA fans with his foul-baiting style of play, but Young has managed to anger many NBA fans at the right time. He is without a doubt, the most hated man in New York right now. Not only did he obliterate the New York Knicks in their first-round series (winning 4-1), but he did so in style. Tearing a page out of the book of Reggie Miller, he welcomed the boos, trash-talked back to fans, and made a sworn enemy of Spike Lee. Spike Lee has never looked so dejected since well...last season. The disdain continued during the Philadelphia series with star center Joel Embiid even refusing to refer to Young by name when talking to the media.
Another reason why Young is primed to be the next big bad for the NBA is that Young is fresh blood. A new face. First of all, type "Trae Young portrait" into Google. Look at the very first picture that comes up. Look at that fucking smirk. A shit-eating grin if I've ever seen one, like he knows he's a bad motherfucker. And he absolutely is, but I digress.
The 2021 NBA Playoffs are ushering in a new generation of superstars with new players and teams contending for a title. In addition to his rise as a new superstar in the league, some of the older stars are aging out. With that comes the sentiment that once older superstars reach the twilight of their career and their skills start to regress, fans' disdain for the players shrink. While widely believed to win the championship this year, the Brooklyn Nets' "un-likeability" was kind of spread out between their team. Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and James Harden are all polarizing players, and Blake Griffin's athletic resurgence after being bought out by the Detroit Pistons all contribute to their collective lack of charisma. With them now eliminated by Giannis and the Milwaukee Bucks, the attention should be right back on Young.
In a Twitter map conducted by Sports Insider, LeBron James is the #1 hated player in the nation. He holds that position in 24 states, with Irving placing 2nd. Irving is the most disliked player in 18 states. Among the rest are Harden, Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Paul George. Young is nowhere near those rankings but his antics have made headlines in the three years he's been in the league. If Young continues to surprise and shock NBA viewers with a trip to The Finals, expect his notoriety to shoot up alongside his success. If the opposite happens and the Hawks are eliminated in the ECF, the harm has already been done. The trash-talking, the cocky expressions to the crowds, the foul-baiting have all made their mark. Trae Young is here to stay and win by all measures, no matter what people say about him. In fact, he loves it.
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