Trae Young wasn’t going to stand for what one former NBA champion said about him during a recent appearance on ESPN.
The last few seasons haven’t been the best for Trae Young. The Atlanta Hawks point guard had a brilliant start to his career in the NBA.
After making All-Star and All-NBA teams in his first three seasons and taking the Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021, Young hasn’t been able to make much of an impact in the league.
A lot of those issues are due to the Hawks’ mediocre roster decisions. But this offseason, the team has done well to build around him.
The Hawks traded for Kristaps Porzingis in one of the biggest moves this offseason. And at the NBA Draft, the Hawks secured an unprotected 2026 first-round pick from the Pelicans.
Topping this campaign off, the Hawks landed Nickeil Alexander-Walker in a sign-and-trade. This was an offseason the Hawks needed to convince Trae Young. Perhaps this roster will help him prove his detractors wrong, including a former NBA champion Young went off at recently.
Iman Shumpert appeared on NBA Today recently and talked about Trae Young. Despite his talent, Shump wasn’t convinced by his ability to be an NBA star.
In particular, the former NBA champion went after Young for being too small and too much of a defensive liability for a championship team.
“Trae Young statistically, what he brings to a game of basketball, I get it. At 6’3, it’s tough to say can he switch onto a 5 at the end of the game, can he guard a bigger guard… Can he make a 2-guard a scoring champion?”
Trae Young responded to a fan who slammed Shumpert for his comments, noting that during their last outing against each other, Young got the best of him.
“That’s why I let them live… What I did to him on the court when we played, you’d think he’d have more respect when my name gets brought up! I could keep going… No hate this way, tho (sic).”
Across his career, Trae Young has faced off against Iman Shumpert four times. In those four games, Young has averaged 28.0 points, 9.0 assists, and 2.0 rebounds.
The performance where Trae Young showed Iman Shumpert who he is came during his rookie season, as Young dropped 36 points against Shump and the Houston Rockets.
To be able to drop such a strong performance, especially as a rookie, is a huge achievement. And this is why Young is well within his rights to respond to Shumpert.
While Shumpert was an excellent player and champion during his career, he was never the first option on a team like Young was.
Shumpert played his role on the Cavaliers’ championship team, playing behind LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.
On the other hand, Trae Young is the star the Hawks are building around to try and compete for an NBA championship.
