Trae Young and Nate McMillan
Atlanta Hawks have been known to perform well when they are riding on the backs of marquee scorer Trae Young.
Atlanta Hawks have been known to perform well when they are riding on the backs of marquee scorer Trae Young. From stellar performances to silencing thousands of away fans to registering some of the finest individual performance, this reigning All-Star has been the ideal clutch performer for Nate McMillan’s side.
However, when the 24-year-old sat out in a contest against an attacking side like Denver Nuggets, McMillan described his star- performer’s absence on miscommunication. However, a report by the Athletic revealed the real reason why Young wasn’t included in a contest where he could be pivotal in changing the scenario.
According to Shams Charania and Sam Amick, Trae Young skipped shootaround on a previous say only to focus on getting treatment for his shoulder soreness. The 24-year-old Point Guard would then decide closer to game time whether or not he would be able to play.
Having taken this decision all by himself, Young wasn’t getting positive response from his coach. Eventually this was not approved by McMillan, who gave Young two options: Come off of the bench, or don’t attend the game at all.
“A situation happened that is private. It’s no different than any other day for me and our group, and a story was leaked about that situation,” McMillan said, as per CBS Sports. “Those are things that we don’t normally talk about or address. Things happen with our players on the bus, on the plane, in hotels. We’re together a lot. We’re family. Things are gonna happen during the course of a season.”
However, McMillan came out to deny to all claims suggesting he had any beef with Trae Young. Moreover, he emphasized how there are issues in private for every team in every season but those are not meant to be told to the media or to the public.
That being said, Trae too downplayed the issue by suggesting that something which has happened in private should only remain behind closed doors.
“It’s hard for people who don’t know the full situation to understand it,” Young said. “Like I said, it’s a private matter made public, which was unfortunate. If it stayed private it probably wouldn’t have been as big of a deal. Like I said it’s unfortunate. My job and my goal is to win a championship, and that’s all I’m focused on.”
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