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Let’s Talk About Trae Young…

Mark the date. 2021 is the year of the young fella’s! With the old guard sustaining injury upon injury and diving deep into their bag of excuses, the bright young stars of the NBA have taken it upon themselves to provide some of the best post season performances in recent history. However, for one reason or another, it seems Trae Young and the Hawks have flown pretty much undetected to this point, only turning heads for a spitting fan in New York and a Game 7 in Philadelphia. I think it’s most people’s opinion that the Hawks are destined to be defeated and sit at the very bottom of the remaining teams in terms of winning this years NBA Championship. But if Trae Young continues the way he’s playing, that Championship trophy mirage may just materialise in a few weeks time. 

Trae Young and John Collins - skysports.com

After missing every single All-NBA team, Trae Young has definitely been attacking these playoffs with a chip on his shoulder. After leading the Atlanta Hawks to a 5th seed in the East whilst averaging 25.3ppg and 9.4 apg in the regular season, most would suggest Trae Young is closer to an MVP vote more than anything. Nevertheless, for one reason or another, the NBA big wigs decided to light an additional flame under this Oklahoma alumni - the problem is, it’s showing no signs of going out. 

After arriving in the playoffs for the first time in 7 years, I imagine every sports fan in New York already booked their trip to the second round when they saw the Atlanta Hawks pop up in their playoff bracket. 5 games later and Trae Young had sent the Knicks packing whilst averaging 29.2ppg and 9.8apg in one of the most hostile environments the NBA has to offer. Sadly, the Sixers met a similar fate in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals and over a seven game span were unable to find an answer for Young, who ran riot once again averaging 29.0ppg and 10.9apg. 

Trae Young vs Philadelphia - theathletic.com

Young continued his playoff dominance last night with a Game 1 Eastern Conference Finals win against the Bucks where he poured in 48 points and 11 assists - not bad for a first appearance. 

So at what point do we start taking Trae Young and the Hawks seriously? They have performed 2 major upsets, both on away turf, and on track to come good against the Bucks for a place in this years NBA Finals. Their sheer arrogance is reminiscent of the 2004 ‘Bad Boy’ Detroit Pistons, who performed one of the greatest NBA Finals upsets of all time defeating the 3-peat Lakers (which was home to 5 future Hall of Famers) over five games. Who’s to say the Trae Young and the Hawks can’t make lightning strike twice? 

Trae Young - bleacherreport.com




















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