Max Kellerman has big praise and expectations for Trae Young. The Atlanta Hawks guard is playing at an incredible level this postseason, leading his team to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Of course, he’s earning a spot in the elite of the league, being compared to the best players in the league. Given his style of play, Young is often compared to Stephen Curry, one of the best players in the entire association. Curry is a 3x NBA champion, 2x MVP, and more. Kellerman compared Young to the Golden State Warriors superstar, claiming his ceiling in the playoffs is higher than Curry’s.
“[Trae is] fearless under pressure. Steph is careless under pressure,” Kellerman said on ESPN’s First Take.
.@maxkellerman believes Trae Young has a higher ceiling in the playoffs than Steph Curry 😳
"[Trae is] fearless under pressure. Steph is careless under pressure." pic.twitter.com/NCb8svxZul
— First Take (@FirstTake) June 24, 2021
Of course, this didn’t sit well with Stephen A. Smith. He blasted his co-host for making those hot takes, even saying he should be getting paid more money for talking basketball with Max.
“You do have this knack for just annoying the living hell out of me,” Smith told Kellerman. “To the point where I’m really going to have a conversation with the bosses about I think I need to get paid more for having to talk basketball with you.”
It seems like Kellerman hates Stephen Curry. Two years ago, he picked Andre Iguodala to take the last shot of a game over Steph, the greatest shooter of all time. Things haven’t changed since that moment, and he’s back at it against the sharpshooter.
Trae is only 22, and if he keeps this pace, we could watch him emulating or surpassing the things Curry has done. However, that’s still a long run for the guard. He must defeat Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks to play in his first NBA Finals; once he’s there, is a whole different story.
