When he arrived at the Atlanta Hawks, Trae Young’s reputation preceded him. He had made history at Oklahoma as a collegiate and his shooting ability had drawn comparisons to Stephen Curry. But he came to the league in 2018, after a rough summer league with 23% shooting accuracy (12-52) and 11 turnovers. However, once he made his debut for the Hawks, the young phenom had everybody shaken with his offensive skills, especially his three-point shooting. Young’s former teammate Taurean Prince reminisced just how impressive Young was in his rookie season, with high praise for him.

Young was initially drafted by the Mavs, but they traded a 2019 first-round pick to move up two spots and selected Luka Doncic, leaving Young for the Hawks as the number 5 overall pick. Soon, Young showed that the Hawks had a good bargain.

Talking on the Run Your Race pod Prince recalled, “He [Trae Young] was hitting shots, it’s like, I mean the kid just came from college, so he was in his…s**t look like a video game in real life bro, I have never seen nothing like it.” Young averaged over 19 points and 8 assists in his rookie season, raising quite a few eyebrows.

“I mean, you knew at that point that he had the keys to the city, a 100%. I had my best season statistically playing alongside of him up to this date,” Prince added. The 30-year-old was spot on with that statement, as Taurean’s stat line also saw an upgrade, especially his shooting (44.1% from the field and 39% from downtown). And Prince has played for quite a few teams, so, having his best season with Trae speaks volumes about the youngster’s talent.

On the other hand, the rookie had every hoops fan in Atlanta in awe of his performance. Despite his small size and lack of athleticism, Trae Young was a nightmare for the opposition because of his scoring and playmaking skills and it was something seen during his days as a collegiate.

At Oklahoma, he became the first player in NCAA Division I history to lead the country in scoring (27.4 ppg) and assists (8.7 apg). He registered four 40-point games at Oklahoma, a Big 12 record, and became the first major conference player in NCAA history to reach 800 points and 250 assists in a single season.

After an impressive rookie season, Young carried his form into his second year with the Hawks. He improved his points tally to an average of 29 and recorded 9 assists. Overall he has averaged 27.0 points and 10.8 assists with Atlanta, but why is he facing criticism of late?

Maybe it’s because of his “ice cold” celebration or his shimmying before shooting threes? Or maybe it’s because he’s been caught trying to bait for fouls in games or his lack of defense or size? Could it be the dismal postseason record that has seen him make just one run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021? The Hawks and Young haven’t reached anywhere near that spot since.

Despite his offensive prowess, Young has struggled defensively and has been labeled a weak point. He has also been branded selfish with his play, which seems odd for a playmaker of his strength. Notably, more recently the 25-year-old came under fire from his own fans when he praised the Houston Rockets rookie Reed Sheppard.

The No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, scored 22 points as the Rockets beat the Wizards 109-91 in the Summer League on July 14. Following this performance, Young tweeted “Reed Sheppard nice y’all !!” However, this simple praise for the rookie got Young in trouble as the Hawks fans called him out for not talking about his own team’s rookie, the number 1 overall pick, Zaccharie Risacher. Comments such as “Can you tweet about your teams pick dude” and “Dude you can’t even acknowledge Risacher publicly but tweet this?” flooded his post.

Still, the Hawks star has been at the top of his game. With an average of almost 26 points and 10.8 assists in the previous season, ‘Ice Trae’ is still getting it done for the Atlanta Hawks. But he continues to receive criticism and some hate even, which has largely come from New York Knicks fans. Why the Knicks though? For that, you will have to go down the memory lane. Let’s sit back, story-time.

 Trae Young’s ‘Ice Cold’ performance in Madison Square Garden

Who can forget when the Atlanta Hawks went up against the New York Knicks in the 2021 playoffs? Since the Knicks had the better record that season, the Hawks had to play their first two games at Madison Square Garden. Let’s just say that the NY crowd wasn’t too welcoming of the away team, especially their star player, Trae Young. To seemingly put him off his game and focus, the crowd also weirdly chanted, “Trae is balding.” But guess who had the last laugh?

By averaging over 29 points and 9 assists in 5 games, Trae Young helped the Hawks close out the series 4-1. However, the memory that is etched into the Knicks’ fan’s minds forever is Trae Young’s performance in Game 1 at Madison Square Garden.

The scoreline was tied with just 9.8 seconds left on the clock. With the ball in Young’s hands, he drove past Frank Ntilikina and ripped a wild floater with just 0.9 seconds remaining! Amid all the boos and jeering, he sank the shot and the home crowd’s hopes. ‘Ice Trae’ came out on top. And he obviously did not end it without delivering his “Ice cold” celebration and repeatedly saying, “It’s quiet as f**k in here.” Young finished with 32 points in the game as the Hawks won 107-105.

Trae Young then took a bow at Madison Square Garden in Game 5 after putting the Knicks out of their misery. “That was serious. [The New York fans] were screaming ‘F-U’ alongside my name. It was pretty disrespectful. But I knew how to respond — just by playing well. And then, as I said, I was just having fun with it. We were in NY, Madison Square Garden and a lot of shows go on there. So taking a bow didn’t seem to be abnormal,” Trae Young said.

Well, Trae Young, who was earlier linked with a move to the Lakers, seems to have figured out the best way to silence his critics. By performing to the best of his capabilities! On a scale of 1-10, how ‘cold’ do you think Trae Young is?

Before you go, do not forget to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Asia Avinger.