December 11, 2024
Trae Young continues to be a huge thorn in the side of the entire state of New York.
Young and the Atlanta Hawks came into Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night and eliminated the Knicks from NBA Cup contention with a 108-100 victory in their quarterfinal match. It was Young who led the way with 22 points and 11 assists, and he also got a helping hand from his Hawks teammate Jalen Johnson, who finished with a colossal 21-15-7-2-2 stat line.
As the final seconds ticked away in the game, Young got disrespectful with the Knicks’ logo at center court. He hunched over and simulated the act of rolling dice over the logo as he was dribbling the clock out. The move was to signify that the Hawks are now off to Las Vegas, where the semifinal and final games of the NBA Cup will be played.
Here is the video.
Trae Young pretends to shoot dice on the Knicks logo following the Hawks win
Atlanta is ready for Las Vegaspic.twitter.com/R9Ro9T34LY
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 12, 2024
The move was far from unprompted though. During the contest, Young heard the familiar chant of “F–k Trae Young” coming from Knicks fans.
The three-time All-Star Young has been completely reviled in New York ever since the 2021 first-round playoff series in which he and the Hawks beat the Knicks (complete with Young taunting the MSG faithful multiple times). The feud has kept strong in more recent years too, and Young even trash-talked Knicks fans during a win in Atlanta last month.
On Wednesday, Knicks fans were hoping for some sweet NBA Cup revenge against their longtime tormentor Young. But instead, Young and the Hawks managed to get the better of them (and their logo) once again.