Winners of 7 straight, the Atlanta Hawks are starting to look like the team that made the Eastern Conference Finals a year ago. As expected, the resurgence is being led by young guard Trae Young, who was officially named an All-Star starter last week.
In fact, Atlanta’s win over the Lakers on Sunday may be Young’s best performance of the season so far, with 36 points, 12 assists, and 5 rebounds on 40% shooting from downtown.
After securing victory against the Lakers on Sunday, Young spoke about the emotions he and his team were feeling as they fought to keep the streak alive before throwing some shade towards long-time NBA referee, Tony Brothers.
“”We can agree to disagree. We do that a lot. That’s good, if everyone agreed, you wouldn’t need one of the people. I think sometimes we disagree, and I disagree with that. When Tony Brothers mentions to me how many years he’s reffed in this league, I don’t give a damn. That just gets fired me up. I don’t think I’m emotionally drunk. I’m just competitive. It brings the best out of me and my teammates.”
Young’s battle with the officials is an ongoing saga. Almost every game, he’s on the sidelines battling it out with a ref. In one particular instance, Young even called out an official publicly after the ref made a “cry baby” motion to the Hawks bench.
Throwing aside Trae’s rivalry with the striped shirts, he is proving himself as a capable leader. This season, even amid a rough start and countless obstacles, he has remained consistent with averages of 27.5 points and 9.2 assists on 45% shooting.
The Hawks still have a lot of work ahead of them if they want to avoid the play-ins, but Trae and the crew are reminding the world that they’re still a force to be reckoned with.
