Trae Young Says Knicks Fans Only Act Tough On Camera And Show Him Respect In Person

Trae Young, the Atlanta Hawks' star guard, amid an uncertain future with the team, appeared on the Club 520 podcast with his former teammate Jeff Teague. He spoke about various things around the league, like the moment that began the spiral in Ben Simmons' career and Young's love-hate relationship with Knicks fans amid the rivalry between the teams. 

While addressing the Knicks fans, Young spoke about the origin of his tension with them and how they behave differently on camera than they do in person. 

"No, it ain't even, I mean, I guess it started from the the playoff series and I mean first quarter with 10 minutes to go, like the whole crowd just started chanting like F you. You know what I'm saying?”

“I mean, it's cool. I mean, I don't really think I grew up thinking I was going to ever be a villain of, you know what I'm saying, in New York. But I mean, it is what it is. And yeah, I mean, you just embrace it. I mean, when I walk around the city, I get a lot of love. So, it's not like I feel scared to go around the city, you know what I'm saying?”

“I feel like even if I pulled up to Dykeman, like, you know what I'm saying? There will be some people out there that show love, you know what I'm saying? So they they they say all these things on camera, but when they see me in person, it's a different way. So I don't really have too hard feelings towards their fans.”

Since the 2021 postseason, when the Hawks made a deep run in the Playoffs to the Eastern Conference Finals, they defeated the Knicks on the way to doing that. Trae Young had an exceptional postseason in 2021 and arguably was the catalyst for beating the Knicks with his high-IQ game.  

In the 2021 postseason, he averaged 29.2 points, 9.8 assists, and 2.8 rebounds against the Knicks to beat them in five games. Fans had famously gone viral for being outraged at Trae Young's masterclass that season. Even now, when Young visits Madison Square Garden, he is often faced with the same chants that began in 2021. 

Despite that, Young believes that fans are only angry for show, but they actually respect him and his game in the bigger picture. While anybody would be scared that thousands in a city are chanting against them, Young says that in reality, they do not hate him. But it is only due to the rivalry between the Hawks and the Knicks in the East that compels them to have such strong feelings about Young. 

With the trade for Porzingis from the Celtics, the Hawks are in a unique position to likely only be challenged by the Knicks and Cavaliers for the top seed in the East this season, considering the injury situation for Tyrese Haliburton with the Pacers and Antetokounmpo having no help in the Bucks. 

Can the Hawks capitalize on this unique window and make another deep run in the Playoffs? After all, Young's future with the team might be on the line, so it is now or never for the Hawks.