Trae Young’s New York ‘Villain’ Arc Takes Epic Ben Stiller Turn, via Josh Hart

The New York Knicks fans and Trae Young have a very bitter beef. The young All-Star earned the ire of the NYK fans when he first entered the playoffs with the Atlanta Hawks against the Knicks back in 2021. Fans were overzealous since this was the first time their team made it to the playoffs in eight years, and Young was directly standing in their way. Naturally, the Hawk responded to the hatred chants by the fans with stellar performances, handing their team a crushing defeat.

Now, the epic beef has resurfaced in a very unexpected way when the New York Knicks find themselves advancing to the playoffs once again. Moreover, it turns out that the echoes of the 2021 slasher by Trae Young still haunt the New York Knicks fans, especially NYK Superfan and prolific actor and filmmaker Ben Stiller. In fact, the beef doesn’t seem to have gotten cold despite Young being injured right now.

When Ben Stiller went still with the echoes of 2021

Ben Stiller recently appeared on the Roommates Show podcast hosted by Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart. The episode was dedicated to talking about movies and the New York Knicks. However, things took a turn when the discussion of films led to a discussion of villains when Stiller’s ‘Dodgeball’ character was talked about. While the initial set of guesses involved the names of Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green, the needle stopped when the name of Trae Young was uttered. Stiller noted, “Trae Young really triggered something with Knicks fans.” 

Ben Stiller’s mind instantly darted towards the 2021 Eastern Conference playoffs defeat NYK faced due to a 29.2 points and 9.8 assists show run by Trae Young. The crowd made the pre-emptive move of demotivating the Hawk by screaming several NSFW chants against him. But, taking this as a challenge, Young tore the hard-earned playoff ticket of the New York Knicks. Moreover, he also started to enjoy the beef NYK fans had with him later revealed in an interview, “Them yelling the whole time, it was probably one of my favorite times playing basketball.”

The intensity of this feud has been compared to the Reggie Miller-Knicks controversy. Miller an Indiana Pacers legend, caused suffering to Knicks’ fans for years with his clutch performances and relentless taunting. Trae Young still doesn’t have that level of experience but seems to have already become the new Miller for Knicks fans. Interestingly, the Hawks and Young stand a chance to ruin the playoff experience of NYK fans this season as well.

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Will Trae Young be a spoilsport for the Knicks once again?

The New York Knicks are currently occupying the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference. However, the foundation on which they stand isn’t very firm. The Knicks have won just one more match than the sixth, seventh, and eighth seeds. Thus, while this makes their chances to advance sour, the presence of Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks in the tenth spot makes things bitter.

The Atlanta Hawks stand a fair chance to advance to the playoffs and replace any of the last four seeds from the championship campaign. While Trae Young is out due to an injury right now, the Hawks are trying to pull their weight and have won the last four out of six matches. If they maintain this push, and Young returns, Atlanta will safely make it to the postseason. Thus, he will once again tower over the MSG crowd as a villainous abomination. Do you think 2024 will see a repeat telecast of the Trae Young Show against NYK? Pour down your thoughts in the comments.

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