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Trae Young Torments New York in Impressive Fashion: TRAINA THOUGHTS

Trae Young destroys Knicks on court, mocks New York fans afterwards

Jimmy Traina

1. One of the best things in sports is when an opposing player becomes Public Enemy No. 1 in a certain city and then plays a game in that city.

That happened Tuesday night when Hawks guard Trae Young visited the Knicks and Madison Square Garden. Young became a New York villain last season when he led Atlanta to a playoff victory over the Knicks.

On Tuesday, Young answered the call in a variety of ways. He dominated on the court during his team’s 117-111 win, he was excellent in taunting the MSG crowd and he was great in his postgame interview.

Before we recap Young’s evening, we need to give a much-deserved shout-out to TNT’s Dwyane Wade. Before the Hawks-Knicks game, Wade predicted Young would drop 45 points on New York. Young’s final tally: 45 points.

As for Young, he left defenders on the floor.

He drained stepbacks like it was nothing.

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He cozied up to one Knicks fan before turning on him and telling him, “Hold that L,” right in the middle of the game.

And then he insulted the New York faithful by saying the boos weren’t that loud.

Young capped off the night by using Twitter to twist the knife into the backs of Knicks fans.

2. Major League Baseball owners and players may have made a deal, but there are still major problems in the sport as pointed out here by Giants outfielder Joc Pederson.

3. You can always count on Draymond Green to say the things others won’t say. Athletes never call out an opposing team for being trash, but Green doesn’t play by those rules as you can see in his postgame press conference last night after the Warriors lost to the lowly Magic.

4. If this is real, it’s one of the dumbest tweets in sports media history. 

5. Atlanta strips clubs have always been part of the sports world and that continues today.

6. This week’s SI Media Podcast features an interview with Troy Aikman who revealed that he still doesn’t know why Fox let him leave after 21 years with the company. He also shared his thoughts on the move from Fox to ESPN and joining Monday Night Football. He also talks about why he wanted Joe Buck to join him at ESPN, the big bump in broadcaster salaries, whether he feels pressure joining MNF, the differences in Fox’s NFL coverage compared to ESPN’s and much more.

Aikman also talks about Tom Brady’s returning to the NFL, Davante Adams’s leaving the Packers and more.

Following Aikman’s interview, Sal Licata from WFAN and SNY in New York joins Jimmy for the weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week’s topics include the NCAA tournament, issues with streaming sports and the loss of a New York legend.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Stitcher.

You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: It was 25 years ago today that Bret Hart and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin pulled off the best double turn in wrestling history.

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Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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