The Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic not only put a halt on the last part of the 2019-20 National Basketball Association (NBA) season, as well as the 2019-20 National Hockey League and the start of the Major League Baseball season, it also deprived fans of the opportunity to see the continued progression of the guest on the latest edition via video chat of NBATV’s “#NBATogether With Ernie Johnson.”
For the Atlanta Hawks (20-47), this season has been a tough one as an early season suspension for starting forward John Collins for violating the league and National Basketball Player’s Association’s Anti-Drug Policy back in early November 2019, that cost him 25 games as well as battling injuries to key personnel and poor play at the defensive end. All of that has overshadowed the stellar play of their starting lead guard Trae Young, whose stellar second season earned him the first of hopefully many All-Star appearances back in February.
As a rookie a season ago, the No. 5 overall pick out of the University of Oklahoma by the Dallas Mavericks, whose draft rights were acquired by the Hawks for the No. 3 overall pick in Luka Doncic, the reigning Kia Rookie of the Year averaged 19.1 points, 8.1 assists and 1.9 made three-pointers per game at a percentage of 32.4 percent, and 41.8 percent overall from the floor.
This season, Young ranked No. 4 in “The Association” in scoring at 29.6 points per game and No. 2 in assists per contest at 9.3. He improved his overall field goal percentage to 43.7 percent; his three-point percentage to 36.1 percent and his threes made per game to 3.4 this season.
While Young thought because of the Hawks’ poor record would keep him from becoming an All-Star this season. He not only was named All-Star for the first time he became the first player in franchise history to be named a starter in the league’s unofficial first half exhibition since Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo back in 2002. On top of that, Young was the leading vote getter amongst guards in the Eastern Conference.
“I was not surprised that I made it,” Young said “I think for me, that’s the only thing I worried about. The only thing I worried about if I didn’t make it, it would be because our team record. But if you looked at everything else, I mean I felt like I should have made it. Thankfully, I did.”
In the Hawks last game before the league suspended play, Young had his 28th double-double of this season with 42 points and 11 assists on 12 for 25 from the floor, including 6 for 12 from three-point range in their 136-131 overtime loss versus the New York Knicks (21-45) on Mar. 11.
It marked the 31st game of this season Young scored 30-plus points this season, which includes an Eastern Conference leading 10th game of 40-plus points registered.
Young, who scored 22 of those 42 points versus the Knicks in the fourth quarter, hitting 7 for 9 from the field in the period, including four made threes, and going 9 for 10 from the free throw line with four assists told Johnson that during this Pandemic that he is spending time back home in Norman, Ok, saying that he did go back-and-forth from Oklahoma to Atlanta, GA once.
“Got away from Atlanta a little bit. Got to see some of my family. My brother, my sister. My little brother had a birthday here. So, I had to come back to Oklahoma and spend some time with them,” Young, who has a younger brother Timothy, who just turned 10 that day, and two younger sisters in Caitlyn and Camryn said to Johnson.
To provide a distraction for all basketball and sports fans with what is happening worldwide because of the COVID-19 Pandemic, ESPN televised an NBA HORSE Tournament last month on Apr. 12th and 16th, which Young participated in, going against 10-time All-Star guard Chris Paul of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Two-time Slam Dunk champion Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls, lead guard Mike Conley of the Utah Jazz, NBA legends in NBA champion and 2004 Finals MVP Chauncey Billups, who now works as a color analyst for the Los Angeles Clippers for FOX Sports Prime Ticket and NBA champion, and ESPN NBA studio analyst Paul Pierce. The contest also included WNBA stars in Hall of Famer to be in former Indiana Fever star Tamika Catchings, the 2008 WNBA Finals MVP and All-Star sharp-shooter Allie Quigley of the Chicago Bulls.
Young led in his quarterfinal matchup with Billups, having him down at HOR, but the guy whose was dubbed “Mr. Big Shot” in his career pulling off three straight challenging shots in succession, which included a one-handed shot from the free throw line to defeat him.
“I let the lead slip. I wasn’t locked in after the HOR,” Young said, adding, “It was something to do. Something to get my mind off of what’s going on right now for a little bit. I mean, it was fun playing against Chauncey. I’ve actually been to his house. I’ve seen that court. So, I think he had an advantage above me because his court was a little bit better than mine that day.”
Young has also passed the time during the league’s suspension by making “Tik Tok” videos with his now 10-year-old brother Timothy, who he told Johnson he does not see much during the season.
When Young was the age of younger sibling, he spent time watching the likes of Hall of Famer Steve Nash, who he said was his favorite player and idol growing up, and Paul, who Young said are his mentors.
Young said that he gravitated to liking Nash because he knew growing up that he was not going to be the “biggest” person in the world. When he saw Nash, a two-time league MVP play, he could dominate the game despite being the smallest player more often than not on the hardwood with his ability to find the open man as well as score the ball himself.
What makes this so ironic is that Young’s head coach with the Hawks is Lloyd Pierce, who played with Nash when the two were teammates at Santa Clara University from 1992-96.
Pierce even arranged for Young to meet his idol when Nash came to the Hawks’ shootaround when they were in Los Angeles to play the Clippers earlier this season.
When Young worked out for the Hawks during the draft process last year and got a chance to talk with Coach Pierce, they had a long discussion about Nash and the impact he had on the then Sooner guard.
Young told Johnson how Pierce was telling him all these stories about the Canadian. It got to the point though that Young felt he got on the Coach Pierce’s nerves asking him a lot of questions about his idol.
One of the main things that Young asked Coach Pierce and Nash, once he did get a chance to meet him is how to be an efficient player in the pick-and-roll.
“In college, I played a little bit of it. But I knew in the NBA I was gonna have to play a lot, and Steve is one of the best point guards in the pick-and-roll,” Young said. “So, for me, I asked a lot of pick-and-roll questions. And when we actually worked out with him this past summer going into my second year, it was basically more like a teaching lesson.”
“We got into the gym for about two hours, and I was asking him a lot of questions about the pick-and-roll.”
Among the questions Young asked the Hall of Famer is what is the first thing he looks for when he comes off of it? When does know when to attack the defense to score off that play? When to pass to the open man off the pick-and-roll?
In the league and all sports, to be one of the greats it takes the understanding of asking one of the best what it took to reach that level of greatness. There are some guys, who just made it into the pros who might be hesitant because they might not have that thirst to seek out that knowledge and learn the ropes as they go. In the case of Young, he had a thirst to seek out his idol and pick his brain to learn the nuances of how to be one of the best floor generals in the NBA.
Young said that once his career is concluded he said that he wants to say he was “one of the best players” that played in the NBA. He understands that while he has gotten better, he has not reached that level of exceptionalism yet on the hardwood, and in order to get there, asking questions to one of the best in Nash is the one way of many he will be able to achieve that goal.
Another NBA great who had a major impact on Young is the late great Hall of Famer to be in five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant, who passed away along with his second oldest daughter Gianna along with seven other individuals in an helicopter crash outside of Los Angeles on Jan. 26.
On the day of his passing, Young put a picture of the him and Bryant on his Twitter page @TheTraeYoung sharing an embrace at a game at the Brooklyn Nets earlier this year writing, “All the Lessons. All the Advice. Every word you ever told me… Will Stick with me forever. Thank You Kobe.”
Among the things that Kobe, who brought his late daughter “Gigi” to that game between the Hawks and the Nets specifically told Young was to always remain the person that he is.
Young was someone Kobe held in high regard because his 13-year-old daughter said that the Hawks guard was one her favorite players.
Bryant specifically told Young, which he said that he “will always hold close” is to be that “bright light” off the court as much as he is on the court, and to be a leader that kids can always look up to like Bryant’s daughter did.
“I think it meant something to him. And the way I was carrying myself off the court and the way I played on the court, he (Kobe) was really happy for me,” Young said. “And it made him happy because she had a good role model to look up to.”
After learning of Bryant’s passing earlier in the day of the aforementioned late January day, Young registered a double-double of 45 points and 14 assists with six rebounds on 13 for 24 shooting, including 6 for 11 from three-point range and 13 for 16 from the charity stripes in the Hawks 152-133 win versus the Washington Wizards (24-40).
Young on several occasions looked up to the rafters of State Farm Arena to honor Bryant and wore his No. 8 jersey to salute his mentor the first few seconds of the Hawks tilt versus the Wizards and wore his shoes.
Along with playing with that fire, focus and relentlessness, better known as the “Mamba Mentality” in every workout and every time he stepped on the hardwood for game action, Young said that he hopes to also for the remainder of his basketball career to have the same impact on the younger generation off the floor like Bryant.
The kind of impact to where kids wanted to play the game of basketball at a high level because they watched Young do what he does on the hardwood.
Another player whose had a major impact in Young’s first two seasons in “The Association” is the ageless 22-year veteran in perennial All-Star swingman Vince Carter, who he affectionately calls “Yoda” because despite his age of a young 43 he can still play
To put into context how long Carter has been in the NBA, when he got drafted No. 5 overall in 1998 by the Golden State Warriors and then had his draft rights dealt to the Toronto Raptors for his college teammate at North Carolina and good friend Antawn Jamison, the No. 4 overall pick by the Raptors, Young was not even born yet.
“He’s been one of the best teammates I’ve had ever,” Young said about Carter. “Just because of everything he knows. Everything he’s taught me in these two years I’ve played with him.”
“He has all the knowledge in the world. So, I ask him a lot of questions. Our lockers are always right next to each other on the road, at home.”
Among the things that Young ask Carter is what he did in leading a team, which the Daytona, FL native did in his time specifically with the Raptors, and the then New Jersey Nets.
Even at the tender age of 21, Young said that he thinks of himself as a leader of the Hawks and said that he leads by both example and vocally, but mostly leads by example and is “getting better” as a vocal leader, which he talks with Coach Pierce about daily in his second season in the league.
“It’s definitely different,” Young said about becoming a vocal leader. “The advice LP is giving me is just practicing on it. Anytime I see something being vocal about. And it’s cool because we’ll have these meetings and we’re all open and talk to each other. And sometimes my teammates will ask me just to talk to them a little bit and things like that.”
“My teammates want me to be more of a vocal leader, and that’s something I love about my teammates and about this organization. We’re all open to talk and that’s kind of how it was.”
While the likes of Nash and Bryant drew Young to play basketball, it was his late grandfather grandfather, who was around him a lot growing up in Oklahoma that first put a basketball in his hands as a young kid.
Young’s father Rayford when he was a kid played basketball in college and as a professional overseas. Whenever Young was around his grandfather, who died when he was the age of his younger brother at as previously mentioned age 10, he would always have a basketball in his hands.
Young at that young age was a ball boy for the Sooners where he would be the designated rebounder for the likes of now Detroit Pistons six-time All-Star forward Blake Griffin.
Among the things he learned from the Sooner players how to they acted around kids, that they treated them with respect and kinds, which is said had a major impact on him and how he governs himself today.
One other important lesson that Young learned in his basketball journey is how to deal with critics.
Back in his time with the Norman North High School Timberwolves, the opposing fans of their rival school the Norman High Tigers in a tournament, were yelling to Young “overrated! Overrated!”
From that point on, Young went to work and had the last word with the game-winning jumper in front of his team’s bench, and following that buzzer beater took a bow towards the players that were on the hardwood to let them know as he said, “the show was over.”
That focus proved to be very helpful in his collegiate career at OU to where he in the first half of his lone season at the University of Oklahoma he was dominating to the point that he was a consistent presence on highlights on ESPN’s “Sportscenter.”
After recording a season-high 43 points and seven assists in a 90-80 win versus the University of Oregon Ducks on Nov. 12, 2017, the media began drawing Young’s playing style of being able to shoot from anywhere on the court, even from close to half court to two-time Kia MVP and three-time NBA champion Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.
As the season progressed though, Young became a major focal point of the opposition, especially when he saw teams a second time around in conference play in the Big 12 where seemingly he had four to five guys trying to slow him down.
The Sooners went from the hottest thing out there back in the 2017-18 season starting at 14-2 and came back down to earth, and that resulted in Young going from getting a lot of praise to now getting a lot of criticism, which he decided to use as motivation heading into the next state of his career.
That night of the 2018 NBA Draft was one of fun and a major dose of reality for Young. The fun side was the fact that he went with a different style of wardrobe wearing a burgundy suit that consisted of a long sleeve black dress shirt and jacket but with shorts instead of long pants, which was similar to that of his younger brother, who was eight years old at the time.
“I wanted to do something that hasn’t been done before and that was it,” Young said of what he was trying to do with his style of wardrobe for that night of the draft when he and his brother went shopping for their looks.
On the business side of things when Young was chosen No. 5 by the Mavericks that night of June 2018, his agent told him that his draft rights were going to be dealt to the Hawks, which they were for the previously mentioned Doncic and a protected future First-Round draft pick.
Throughout last season, everyone in the media was comparing how Doncic and Young were doing during their respective rookie seasons where Doncic was having an immediate impact compared to the struggles that Young had a times a season ago.
Young did hear that noise constantly but said he just kept his focus and just kept grinding, keeping the focus on himself and how he can make the Hawks better.
“I would hear all these different things but wouldn’t let it affect me,” he said.
In his lone season at OU, where for the first time in his life as a basketball player he how he was getting criticized and he would keep side notes of what people said about him.
One of the big criticisms Young has faced early on in his career is him being a liability at the defense end because of his size and strength to guard players bigger and stronger than him.
For Young he told Johnson that playing defense for him comes down to the effort you put in and if you are in game shape or not.
He said that he wants to take a lot of pride for the remainder of this season, if play resumes and moving forward in his career of becoming a better individual defender.
From first time Rayford “Trae” Young had a basketball put in his hands by his grandfather, he used it to become great on the hardwood in high school at Norman North; at the University of Oklahoma and has gotten off to a solid start with the Atlanta Hawks.
He has had to battle some criticism along the way but has remained true to himself, while learning how to become a better player and person both on and off the court from his idols in Hall of Fame guard Steve Nash, Hall of Famer to be in the late Kobe Bryant and future Hall of Famer in his teammate Vince Carter.
The future for the Hawks looks bright with Young, John Collins, Kevin Huerter, rookies De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish, DeAndre’ Bembry, Clint Capela, who the Hawks acquired at the Feb. 2 trade deadline from the Houston Rockets, and head coach Lloyd Pierce.
For them and for Young it is all about staying the course of getting better individually and collectively on both ends of the floor and making a commitment to becoming a playoff perennial and hopefully a championship contender.
It also is about being an inspiration for the next generation of prospects who have dreams of playing in the NBA.
“It’s the best league in the world,” Young said he would say to someone who has and knows they will play in “The Association.” “I’m blessed to be able to play in the best league in the world. Around the best people, best players. It’s a lot though. It’s a lot. It’s not just basketball every day. There’s a lot that goes into it.”
“The long road trips. The back-to-backs. It’s a lot. And it’s not easy, and anybody that tells you that it is, it’s not. But anybody can do it if you work extremely, extremely hard.”
“I mean, you don’t have to be 6’7” 7-foot, dunking, jumping from anywhere. As long as you have a tough mind, tough heart and you can shoot a little bit you can be in the league too.”
Information, statistics, and quotations courtesy of 1/23/2020 7 p.m. TNT’s “NBA Tip-Off: 2020 NBA All-Star Starters Revealed,” presented by Autotrader with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal; 2/13/2020 3 p.m. edition “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Michael Wilbon, Paul Pierce, Tracy McGrady, and Scottie Pippen; 3/11/2020 scores from www.nba.com; 4/12/2020 www.espn.com story, “NBA Horse Challenge: Grading Every Player in Quarterfinals,” by Kevin Pelton; https://www.espn.com/nba/recap?gameid=401161329; https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameid=401161329; https://www.espn.com/nba/standings; https://www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/4277905/trae-young; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trae_Young.
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