Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
Revisiting Worst Trae Young Takes This Season
In this story:
On June 22, 2021, the NBA announced rule changes aimed squarely at Trae Young. The Atlanta Hawks point guard lived at the free-throw line during the 2020-21 season, averaging 8.7 attempts per game. However, that was soon to change after critics decided his game was "not basketball."
Fast forward to April 10, 2022. Young wrapped up the regular season with a stat line of 28.4 points and 9.7 assists per game. He became the second player in NBA history to lead the league in total points and assists. Additionally, he averaged career-highs in ten different statistical categories.
Some hoops fans were immediately skeptical of how Young's style of play would fare under the new rules. Check out the tweet below from a popular Twitter account.
Others immediately said it was the end of Young's career. Obviously a joke, but it didn't age well at all.
I'm not sure why Tyus Jones caught a stray here. But you have to love when people try to denigrate an NBA player by comparing them to another (checks notes) NBA player.
There were a lot of bad takes that day. The tweet below takes the case for the absolute worst. A wildly unfunny joke met with a whole 53 likes.
Regular Season
Nailed it. Less than halfway through the first quarter of the first game of an 82-game season is the perfect time to make a sweeping declaration about a young player's game.
Zach Lowe
Alright, now let's pivot and look at what people who know hoops were saying at the time. ESPN analyst Zach Lowe said the following:
"But Trae is a little bit of a different case. Trae has a lot of stuff that looks like he is trying to get fouls, but it's real basketball. When he goes around a screen, he likes to slow down and sometimes guys run into him. That's not his fault. He's slowing down to read the floor, see what defender makes a mistake, see what passes open up, or see if he should use his floater. That's real basketball.
Gilbert Arenas
NBA legend Gilbert Arenas immediately came out against the rule changes. According to 'Agent Zero' it "dumbed down the game."
"You're taking away the creative genius of what these guys are bringing." Arenas continued, "This will affect a guy who is creating contact, whose manipulating a defensive rule a defensive laziness. So what they're taking away from the game is real creativity."
Arenas nailed the entire segment. See the video below as he says it better than anyone else in the media (because he played the game and is a savant).
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