Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young proudly called to Shaquille O’Neal after their win against the New York Knicks, urging the NBA legend to talk about his performance on Inside The NBA.
Shaq had been a fan of Young for a long time now, even openly pressing the Hawks star in some of his podcast episodes.
“I hope Shaq talking his s*** tonight too!” Young posted.
I hope Shaq talking his 💩 tonight too !!
Ahh- ahhh👊🏽— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) December 12, 2024
The Atlanta Hawks entered halftime of the game at a huge deficit, with the Knicks leading at 54-47. However, Trae erupted during the third quarter, where he rallied his 12 points and carried the Hawks in turning the deficit into a lead that the Knicks would not recover from.
According to Young, his scoremaking during the third quarter inspired the entire team to get more fitted up for the rest of the game.
“I figured out how they were guarding me, how they were staying with their man,” he said. “I wasn’t able to get guys involved. They were staying with their guys in the first half, kinda forcing me to score. I scored a couple of buckets and it allowed everybody else to open up.”
On the side of the Knicks, Karl-Anthony Towns logged 19 points, 19 rebounds, and five assists. Josh Hart also helped the team with 21 points, Mikal Bridges with 19, and Jalen Brunson with 13 points.
Still, the Hawks ultimately wiped the floor with the Knicks with a final score of 108-100.
Shaq delivered Young’s shoutout, giving him and the Hawks a shoutout in return during the postgame show.
“Trae owns the Knicks,” Shaq said during the segment.
Overall, Trae Young scored 22 points for the game and did 11 assists, solidifying his villain status for the Knicks.
Trae Young Throws Dice on Knicks Logo Prior to Hawks Win
The game is virtually over, with less than ten seconds left on the clock. The ball is on the Hawks and Trae Young is dribbling it at the center with the Knicks logo on the floor. Everyone knows the Hawks have won this one, and even people from the Knicks did not attempt to make any play at all.
However, Young did not let the last few seconds of the game just him dribbling it out. Rather, he knelt on the Knicks logo and pretended to play dice. Fans were quick to catch on that this was in reference to the NBA Cup semifinals at Las Vegas, which the Hawks’ win qualified them for.
“We’re going to Vegas,” he said, talking about the pretend dice. “So that’s what I had to [do].”
“I planned that one with my little brother a few days ago,” Trae Young said. “We had talked about that and I mean, I knew what I was going to do.”
For more sports content:
Follow us @HardwoodHeroics for your NBA and college basketball reading fix. You can reach out to Dan Agulto through email at papadanph@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest sports news, click here!
Dan has been active in sports since 2016 and has worked behind the scenes as a scriptwriter for basketball, volleyball, and other sports. At a time, Dan has also been working as a sports commentator for CBA Pilipinas. During the pandemic, he has also been actively writing betting articles for CashBet and BetNow.
