Trae Young Shimmies Into Superstardom: Unchecked

No one has elevated their status more than Trae Young has during the Atlanta Hawks run this postseason.

It’s safe to say no one will ever criticize the Atlanta Hawks for trading Luka Doncic for Trae Young on draft day again, because Ice Trae’s on his way to becoming the best player in franchise history.

Trae Young is the second youngest player in NBA history to get 45+ PTS and 10+ AST in a playoff game.

Luka is the youngest.

What a draft trade. pic.twitter.com/25fJw2diVK

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 24, 2021

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anyone elevate their status more in one playoff run than what Young has already done with the Hawks this postseason, and at this point, it’s impossible to rule out Atlanta’s point guard taking them all the way.

Trae Young’s 48 PTS tonight ties LeBron James and Kobe Bryant for the most points scored in a postseason game in NBA history before turning 23 years old.

LeBron James: 48 points on 05/31/2007
Kobe Bryant: 48 points on 05/13/2001 pic.twitter.com/ZeQcvAFZEn

— NBA History (@NBAHistory) June 24, 2021

The best part about it is how Young has embraced the moment, not just by what he’s accomplished on the court, but as a showman as well...from silencing the Madison Square Garden crowd, to shimmying before knocking in a shot from downtown.

Trae Young really did this last night on his way to 48 PTS & 11 AST!

Teammates & the TNT crew's reactions to the Shimmy...pic.twitter.com/WWfezyX9FH

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) June 24, 2021

Of course, none of the flair would stand out the same if it wasn’t backed up by his game. That’s how Young has given the Knicks, the Sixers and now the Bucks real fits, given he looks like some combination of Steph Curry, Steve Nash and James Harden out there on the court.

in his first ever conference finals game trae young:

+ scored 48 points
+ had 11 assists
+ had 6 rebounds
+ threw an alley oop off the backboard
+ crossed up an all-defensive first team defender into the multiverse and then shimmied on him before hitting a 3

unbelievable

— Shea Serrano (@SheaSerrano) June 24, 2021

With that said, he didn’t become the first player in NBA history to drop 45 points and dish out 10 assists in a Conference Finals game because he’s like anyone else. One would be hard-pressed to find a player who sees the floor, gets to where he wants on the court, passes, shoots, finishes and draws fouls as well as Young does. The dude is as cold as ice and as a result the Atlanta Hawks are red hot.

I think we can all agree to shimmy to that.