“Trae Young Doesn’t Make His Teammates Better”: Former NBA Coach Claims After Disappointing Play-In Exit

The Atlanta Hawks‘ troublesome season has come to a disappointing end in the very first game of the play-in tournament. DeMar DeRozan and Coby White were feeling it, as they gave the Chicago Bulls a 15-point win to stay alive in the race to the Playoffs. What went wrong for the Hawks? Almost everything. Dejounte Murray‘s solo effort in the offense was the only thing that clicked for the Hawks as Trae Young had an off night at the wrong time. Amidst all the chatter about Young’s future in Atlanta, a former NBA coach took a harsh jab at Young for not supporting his teammate at the right time. 

Dejounte Murray finished the game with 30 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. However, Trae Young had only 22 points, shooting a poor 33% from the field. This caught the attention of former Sacramento Kings and Denver Nuggets coach George Karl, who wrote on Twitter, “My eyes tell me that Trae Young doesn’t make his teammates better. Tell me I’m wrong!” 

A viral clip on Twitter highlighted the exact moment before halftime when Murray showed his frustration with Young. In the final possession of the first half, Young, who was handling the ball, hit an inaccurate behind-the-back pass to Murray. The Bulls capitalized on this mistake and did not let Murray take a shot. In the video, the young shooting guard was furious and headed back to the locker room with his head down. 

Young and Murray have been great individual scorers for the Atlanta Hawks over the last few seasons. However, is that combo deadly enough to make a deep run in the playoffs? Guess not. Young has been part of trade rumors for quite some time now. The Lakers were reportedly interested in acquiring him ahead of the trade deadline but decided not to. However, they will be back in for him in the summer along with other suitors. 

Looking at all of this, Karl decided to point all his fingers towards Young. However, what we should note here is that this is not the first time Karl has called out the Hawks superstar.

Trae Young faced the heat from George Karl during the 2022-23 season as well

In February 2023, Karl tweeted, “It’s a Trae Young vs a Nikola Jokic League. Me first vs We first”. This tweet was triggered by the sudden firing of then-Hawks coach Nate McMillan. He was fired after Atlanta entered the All-Star break with a 29-30 record. As a former head coach, George Karl did not like this move by the Hawks, and notably, he indirectly blamed Young for the firing. 

A year later now, Karl wants to prove his point once again with the Hawks getting eliminated. The 72-year-old has been quite active on Twitter lately. He has never hesitated to make some bold claims. Karl also mocked the Warriors dynasty yesterday after they got eliminated by the Sacramento Kings. So, let’s wait and watch what Karl has to say about the upcoming playoffs.