Hawks' Trae Young 'wanted to hear those F-U chants again' after hitting game-winning shot vs. Knicks

Jacob Camenker

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Hawks' Trae Young 'wanted to hear those F-U chants again' after hitting game-winning shot vs. Knicks image

Trae Young established himself as a villain during the Hawks' 107-105 Game 1 win over the Knicks on Sunday night.

In his first career playoff game, Young made the go-ahead shot with 0.9 seconds remaining in regulation, handing the Knicks a heartbreaking loss. After the make, he yelled a message toward the Madison Square Garden crowd while holding a finger over his mouth.

Here's a look at the play, via ESPN.

If you're a lip reader, you can tell that Young is saying something along the lines of "It's quiet as f— in here" after his shot fell. After the game, he elaborated on why he addressed the crowd in such a manner.

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"We've been in the biggest stages. When you're in the zone and everybody's chanting 'F-U' — I don't know if any of y'all have had that, but I had that in college and had it again tonight — it got real quiet at the end," Young said on the TNT broadcast. "And for me, I wanted to hear those 'F-U' chants again."

After knocking off the Knicks in such a fashion, it certainly seems as if he may have more chants of that sort directed at him for Game 2 in New York on Wednesday. But it also sounds as if Young is ready to embrace that villain role.

Not only did he hit the game-winner, he also totaled more than 30 points and 10 assists in his playoff debut, something that hasn't been done since Derrick Rose's Bulls playoff debut in 2009.

That's good company for Young to be keeping, especially since Rose won the NBA MVP award two seasons after his terrific playoff debut. After a string of injury-plagued seasons, Rose is going strong again as a key Knicks reserve. He had 17 points and five assists opposite Young on Sunday night.

We'll soon see if Young can keep his hot playoff start going. Either way, his postseason debut was one to remember. 

Jacob Camenker

Jacob Camenker Photo

Jacob Camenker first joined The Sporting News as a fantasy football intern in 2018 after his graduation from UMass. He became a full-time employee with TSN in 2021 and now serves as a senior content producer with a particular focus on the NFL. Jacob worked at NBC Sports Boston as a content producer from 2019 to 2021. He is an avid fan of the NFL Draft and ranked 10th in FantasyPros’ Mock Draft Accuracy metric in both 2021 and 2022.