I’m embarrassed by New York fans who still chant “Fuck Trae Young” at sporting events because he beat an Elfrid Payton-led Knicks team in 5 games in the first round of the 2021 playoffs—as if Reggie Bullock was about to lock down the Giannis that scored 50 points to win the NBA Finals that season.
HOWEVER, I won’t pretend as if I don’t snicker like Muttley from Wacky Races whenever something goes wrong in Atlanta.
When they fired Nate McMillion, I chuckled. Trading away John Collins and Dejounte Murray got a belly laugh out of me.
Whenever I’m ready to move on from the pettiness, Trae Young reminds me why I can’t let the hate go—like when he rolled dice on the Knicks logo after eliminating them from the Emirates Cup Tourny earlier this season.
Trae Young rolled the dice on the Knicks logo 👀
Next stop: Las Vegas 💰 pic.twitter.com/M707Rgvl0W
— ESPN (@espn) December 12, 2024
The 2024 Atlanta Hawks were lit. At one point, they had a 6-game winning streak—including back-to-back victories over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
They acquired Dyson Daniels from the New Orleans Pelicans for Dejounte Murray and Daniels showed up to camp having decided to simply become the best on-ball perimeter defender in the league.
Trae Young became less ball-dominant instead of punishing the ball for 20 seconds of the shot clock just to chuck it from 3, of course.
But the ascension of 4th year forward, Jalen Johnson, turned the Hawks into a problem.
JALEN JOHNSON LEADS THE WAY FOR ATLANTA 🔥
29 PTS (ties career high)
9 REB
8 AST
2 STL
2 BLK pic.twitter.com/fwB28jzXDm— NBA (@NBA) November 4, 2024
Andddd it’s over.
Jalen Johnson will miss the remainder of the season with a torn labrum in his left shoulder, per @ChrisBHaynes
Johnson was averaging a career high 18.9 PTS, 10 REB, 5 AST this season pic.twitter.com/fLb68UspLu
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 29, 2025
Jalen Johnson is out for the season with a shoulder injury. Yike.
What’s next for the Atlanta Hawks after the Jalen Johnson injury?
The Hawks are in the middle of a 6-game losing streak (which started in Madison Square Garden with a loss to the Knicks) and they currently sit in the 9th seed, 3 games below .500.
Jalen Johnson was the team’s best rebounder, defender, screener and was a secondary playmaker capable of taking a defensive rebound coast-to-coast—saving Atlanta from the trigger in Trae’s brain that forces him to shotput threes from the logo, completely eliminating the advantage of the fastbreak.
Right now, they are in the perfect position to once again play the Chicago Bulls in the play-in—home sweet home.
God, it’s a shame to see the Atlanta Hawks and Trae Young, specifically, in disarray.
It’s going to suck watching Trae Young lose twice a week, unable to celebrate and skip around the court after Dyson Daniels and Jalen Johnson do all the work to give him that lead.
Farewell to the 2025 Atlanta Hawks. There’s always next year.
Lol.
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