SUMMARY
- Trae Young, the Atlanta Hawks guard, and Scottie Barnes of the Toronto Raptors have been selected as injury replacements for Joel Embiid and Julius Randle.
- Trae Young made his first All-Star appearance in his second season with the Atlanta Hawks at the United Center in Chicago on February 16, 2020.
Trae Young was snubbed from the NBA All-Star player pool of the Eastern Conference earlier, and the city of Atlanta had descended into madness. The environment was such that there seemed to be a close resemblance between the Atlanta Hawks fans and Gotham’s mayhem. Well, the only difference was that here, Batman was not Bruce Wayne but the Hawks’ guard.
After the fifth overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft was snubbed, the fans were questioning the voting system. However, now it turns out that fate has queer ways to make wishes come true. The forward/guard of the Toronto Raptors, Scottie Barnes, and Trae are now allotted a place in the All-Star player pool. Although they are injury replacements for Joel Embiid and Julius Randle, the players have now been named All-Stars for the game in Indianapolis.
Toronto’s Scottie Barnes and Atlanta’s Trae Young have been named by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver as injury replacements on the Eastern Conference team for the 2024 NBA All-Star Game.
The two players will replace Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and New York’s Julius Randle. pic.twitter.com/ZkP7gZmbhj
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) February 6, 2024
‘Ice Trae’ is shooting 43.5% from the deep this season. If one pulls out the past record, it’s worth noting that in terms of shooting, the point guard is biting the bullet. In the 2022–23 season, he was averaging 42.9% from the field, and the score seems to be on the same level this season as well. However, his inclusion as an All-Star for the game due on February 18, 2024, sounds like rain on barren land.
Trae Young was selected as a backcourt starter in his first All-Star appearance
Young was in his second season with the Atlanta Hawks, and he was selected for his first All-Star appearance at the United Center in Chicago. All prepped up for the game on February 16, 2020, the hooper started as a back-court player under coaches Frank Vogel and Nick Nurse. According to basketballreference.com, he scored 10 points and 10 assists.
Not only was he in the starting lineup, but the guard also cloaked 15:45 minutes in his first All-Star game. Although the team lost to the one from the Western Conference by a 2-point score, ‘Ice Trae’ became better equipped to record a second All-Star appearance.
He recorded his second All-Star appearance on February 20, 2022, at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland. This time as well, he was one of the starting five and recorded 13 points and 10 assists. Well, the NBA All-Star from Lubbock, Texas, U.S., does have a lot of records and accolades to his name.
Trae Young has become the first player to lead the league in terms of assists
The 25-year-old product of Oklahoma is riding on an average of 27.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 10.9 assists in the 45 games that he has played this season. It’s worth noting that the 6-foot-1 guard ranks second in the league in terms of assists as of now. However, if one takes into account the total tally of his career assists, he is the first player to lead the league in three consecutive seasons.
What’s astonishing is that he’s the second player since Steve Nash (2009–2012) to establish such a record, according to Sports Illustrated. This season alone, the guard has recorded an NBA-leading 27 games with at least 20 points and at least 10 assists.