Hawks' Trae Young reveals rivals' home as toughest arena to play at
09/10/2024 09:12 PM
The Atlanta Hawks star guard Trae Young has the nickname “Ice Trae” for a reason, but even he admits to feeling the hostility and pressure from crowds on the road. Moreover, the crowd’s hostility combined with playoff intensity ramps up the pressure to another level. In a recent appearance on the “Million $ Worth of Game” podcast, Young listed the toughest arenas for him to play at, which includes the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics.
“Philly’s definitely a rough place to play,” Young told Gillie da Kid on the podcast. “I mean, man, prolly Philly or Boston. I think those Northeast cities, with New York [Knicks] in there, too. Like, them three cities are prolly the three loudest cities and feel like the most college environment types of cities.”
Trae said Philly is the toughest city to play at pic.twitter.com/Wcl9IhYQgm
— MILLION $ WORTH OF GAME (@mworthofgame) September 10, 2024
The Hawks star goes off
It might be safe to say that Trae Young remembers the Hawks-76ers series back in 2021, which went the full seven games and saw his team advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for only the second time in franchise history. Game 7 also effectively ended the Ben Simmons-Joel Embiid partnership, cemented after Simmons’ decision to pass up a wide-open dunk late in the fourth quarter that would have tied the game.
In 2023, Trae Young’s Hawks faced the Celtics in the first round. While they were outmatched in that series, Young managed to reach deep into his bag and made it competitive. Facing elimination in Game 5, he poured in 38 points and hit a 30-foot game-winning three to keep their season alive. He also scored 16 points in the fourth quarter, showing why he’s one of the best clutch players in the NBA.
Still, his claim to fame was antagonizing the New York Knicks fanbase, when the Hawks eliminated the Knicks in five games during the first round of the 2021 playoffs. Averaging 29.2 points and 9.8 assists, he also took a bow at midcourt of Madison Square Garden while the fans chanted “F**k Trae Young.”
Young even appeared on WWE Smackdown in MSG just to put a little bit more salt in the wound. Even today, they still treat him like a villain, much like Reggie Miller in the 1990s.
With those series between the 76ers and Celtics over, Trae Young is now leading a Hawks team in transition. After they traded Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans, Ice Trae now has the keys to the team again, though the Hawks kept dangling Young as trade bait throughout last season.
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