NBA Fans Fire Back at Patrick Beverley Over Trae Young Take

Fans Push Back on Beverley’s Statement

Beverley’s statement isn’t a new idea. The “coach killer” narrative has surrounded Young for the past two years. When Young joined Dramond Green’s show with Baron Davis a couple of years back, he addressed the narrative himself. NBA fans debated about it over time.

On Thursday, some fans defended Young. One X user pulled up some history notes on both of Young’s two former coaches, proving a point in defense of Young.

via @zebster114: Nate Mcmillan was fired by Portland in 2012

Nate Mcmillan was fired by Indiana in 2020

Nate Mcmillan was fired by Atlanta in 2023

is Trae a coach killer or is the coach just not good

also Lloyd Pierce hasn't gotten a single head coach offer since he got fired lol

@NetsCifer: With how often teams go through coaches, Young having 3 coaches in 7 seasons is normal

@zebster114: Malcolm Brogdon said this in 2020 when Nate was fired by the Pacers in 2020. The 2nd pic is what was said about him after getting fired by the Blazers in 2012. The 3rd pic is the Hawks from 2023. Every single time he lost the locker room and the players it's not just Trae lol

@g4rdnerd4vis: Devin Booker is about to play for his 8th head coach in 10 seasons…

@eggsoverEZ: Pretty sure LeBron got more coaches fired than Trae but we ain’t talking about that because he is the king

@aymanjshahid: Emotional

Young’s first coach was Lloyd Pierce. In Pierce’s defense, the Hawks were in the midst of a rebuild when they landed Young and put him in place to take over for Budenholzer.

In 183 games with the Hawks, Pierce won just 34 percent of his games.

@chicosnametag: Lloyd same lloyd who beefed with/ ruined cam reddish

@PascalSockem: Pat Bev trying to stay relevant off of Trae Youngs name was not on my 2025 bingo card.

@atl_dude98 : Both Lloyd Pierce and Nate McMillan were bad coaches.

@AuthorRandallB: Talk to that man

The Hawks cut ties with Pierce in 2021 during the season. Nate McMillan took over and helped the Hawks turn things around. That year, Atlanta went on its special playoff run, which included knocking off the No. 1-seeded Philadelphia 76ers and going to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Young and the Hawks didn’t come out on top, but it seemed the future was bright. However, McMillan’s time was cut short as well. After 179 games, McMillan was cut loose. The Hawks had Joe Prunty in his place before quickly bringing in Quin Snyder to take over. For the past 185 games, Snyder has been coaching Young and the Hawks. Atlanta still hasn’t made it out of the first round since McMillan’s first run.

As it was stated above, Pierce hasn’t received a head coach position since leaving the Hawks. He remains an assistant with the Indiana Pacers. McMillan spent some time away, but recently returned to the Los Angeles Lakers’ bench to coach alongside the inexperienced JJ Redick. That doesn’t totally wipe out Beverley’s narrative, but it certainly doesn’t help.

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