Kevin Huerter discloses that it was the New York fans and not Trae Young who initiated the verbal altercation in the Hawks-Knicks playoffs series.
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Trae Young has been one of the most promising young talents in the league. At only 22-years of age, Young has not only established himself as one of the top-most guards in the league, but also among the best players. There is no doubt that this Atlanta Hawks superstar is going to be one of the capable future faces of the league.
This past 2020-2021 campaign Trae and his Hawks surprised each and every NBA fan when they had a deep playoffs run to the Eastern Conference Finals. During the course of their incredible Cinderella run, Atlanta even upset title-contenders Philadelphia 76ers.
However, it was their first-round battle with Julius Randle and his New York Knicks which was one of the most interesting encounters in the 2021 playoffs. The heavily contested and heated battle between these two teams was incredible despite ATL wrapping up the series in 5 games. What was more interesting tho, was Ice Trae’s fierce verbal altercations with the tough New York crowd.
As soon as Trae set foot in the widely-considered Mecca of Basketball – the Madison Square Garden, things instantly got bitter between the two teams. To be more precise, the Knicks fans instantly picked to mock and talk-trash to the 1-time All-Star.
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“It was the New York fans who created the hate, not Trae Young”: Kevin Huerter
Over the course of the series, things would sometimes get way out of hand. There were times when the entire arena would chant “f**k Trae Young”, and there was also an instance when the sharpshooter was insulted by getting spat on by an ignorant fan.
Being the relentless competitor he is, Young didn’t keep shut and mind his business. Rather, he balled out on a different level altogether, while giving it back to the fans. Because of this, Young instantly hit the tag of NBA’s “villain”.
Several fans have a misconception that it was Young who initiated all the trash-talkings. However, recently, Kevin Huerter disclosed the truth behind the entire fiasco. The Hawks shooting appeared on JJ Redick’s podcast “The Old Man and the Three” and revealed:
“People love to talk about it. The bowing, the shimmying, I feel like it’s a fun way to play the game,” said the Hawks guard. “But here’s what I’ve been explaining to people the last month or so… If you get into MSG, playing the Knicks in the playoffs and in the third possession of the game the whole entire crowd is chanting ‘F– You Trae’.”
“One, if you were in the same situation, you would do the same thing back. But two, I feel like he didn’t create the hate in that series. Right away, New York was on him. New York singled him out and was like ‘We’re going to try and get in this guy’s head’.”
“And Trae that whole series talked the talk and walked the walk. Obviously, in Game 5 he bowed and kind of put away the series.”
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Yes, Young did talk his talk indeed. In only his first-ever playoffs series, being only 22-years-old, with an entire arena hating him, Trae put on a show. Averaging 28.8 points and 9.5 assists in his maiden postseason appearance, Young did manage to shut his haters up.
