Trae Young Not Happy With Media’s Opinion On Hawks

Fresh off a run to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, the Atlanta Hawks come into a new year with even higher hopes. However, All-Star point guard Trae Young doesn’t think his team is getting the respect that it deserves.

On their way to an Eastern Conference Finals appearance, the Hawks knocked off the New York Knicks, before upsetting the Philadelphia 76ers. The run stunned much of the league, but everyone inside Atlanta’s organization maintained that last year was a long time coming.

This offseason, the Hawks focused on locking down their young core, which has served as the backbone of the team. Young, John Collins, Kevin Huerter and Clint Capela all signed extensions to stay in Atlanta. The Hawks also added Delon Wright in a trade, Gorgui Dieng in free agency and highly skilled forward Jalen Johnson in the draft.

The Eastern Conference certainly improved this offseason, with teams like the Miami Heat, the Chicago Bulls and others making acquisitions to sure up their roster. However, the Hawks depth and versatility should still put them among the the upper echelon of the group, which Young wants to remind the national media before the start of his team’s campaign.

“I don’t think we get the respect we deserve. I watch a lot of TV. I see people mentioning all of the acquisitions everyone is getting. No one is mentioning us,” Young said, per The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner. “The Milwaukee-Brooklyn game, they mentioned how they were in the Eastern Finals. It was just mind blowing.”

The Eastern Conference greatly improved this offseason, but there’s something to be said about the consistency in the Hawks locker room. Atlanta has built a young, talented team that will have now played together for a few years. That experience will be vital come playoff time.

Of course, Young is poised to lead the way yet again after signing a max rookie extension with the Hawks. The 2020 All-Star took a slightly smaller roll for Atlanta during the regular season last year, before exploding in the playoffs. In the Hawks 16 postseason games, Young averaged 28.8 points, 9.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

This year, the 23-year-old point guard will lead a cast of talented wings, multiple skilled big men and a young core back into battle. With Nate McMillan entering his first full year at the helm, the Hawks seemed poised for another strong season.

Young will have a huge opportunity to gain some respect around the league on Thursday night. His Hawks will square off against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks in a primetime match-up on TNT.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET in Atlanta.

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