Trae Young finally gets the respect he deserves. He has been asked to belatedly take his talents to the Bay Area this weekend for the 2025 All-Star Game.
The Atlanta Hawks superstar obtained the nod from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, after Giannis Antetokounmpo was ruled out of the game due to injury.
Antetokounmpo won’t be able to play for two weeks because of a left calf strain, and Trae Young was chosen as his injury replacement who will take a spot for Team Chuck in the 2025 NBA All-Star Game.
Hawks fans will be taking note as Trae Young will now travel to San Francisco this weekend and showcase his play as one of the best players in the world.
Young emerged as a significant snub when the league unveiled the list of the All-Star reserves last month, which he claimed isn’t surprising anymore.
Young’s exclusion was surprising as he is savoring a solid campaign as the lead man of Atlanta. He is averaging 23.4 points and 3.2 boards per night alongside a career-high 11.4 assists which currently leads the entire NBA. And earlier this season, he also made a historic mark of his own.
Apparently, if it only weren’t for the support of the fans and his team, Young confessed that he would actually pass the opportunity to play in the All-Star Game – but has made the decision to put the Atlanta Hawks first.
“When you realize that the voting situation and all that is already rigged in the first place, and that’s for me, that’s what it is,” Young told the Atlantaa Journal.
“I mean, if it was just about me and things like that, like I wouldn’t, I probably wouldn’t have accepted it, but I understand, like, who I’m representing and it’s not just me.
“It’s about the city, it’s about my teammates that helped me get to this position, my coaches that have given us great advice and leadership all year that helped me get to this position.
“It’s not just about me. So, that’s really the reason why I accepted it, but I understand like, the system isn’t the same like we’re used to, and so that’s why I was never really mad or anything like I would when I was younger.”
The selection for the All-Star reserves came via the decision of NBA coaches. Meanwhile, fans, players and media members dictated the starters.
In the final voting tally, Young placed fourth, but the likes of Darius Garland, Cade Cunningham, Tyler Herro, and Damian Lillard were selected above his name for the reserves amongst Eastern Conference guards.
Nevertheless, Young is thankful enough to finally receive the honorable selection from the league as this year’s All-Star Game would mark his fourth appearance in the grand stage, providing another feather in his cap as one of game’s finest.
“It’s cool,” he simply said. “I think I’ll be able to relax and really think about it later on in my career when I’m done, and I kind of wanna keep that edge on the competitiveness that I have to get it each and every year.
“It only raises our team and makes our team better when you’re playing at that level. So I’m always going to have that drive, and I’ll probably sit back and enjoy it and think about it a little bit more when I’m done playing.”
