Ray Young, the father of Atlanta Hawks’ superstar point guard Trae Young, posted a picture from 2013 of a young Trae with Brad Stevens and Danny Ainge. The caption on the post told an interesting story that the elder Young never forgot.
At the time, Stevens was the head coach of the Boston Celtics and Ainge was the General Manager.
They both told me he was special before the draft. I thought he was too small and that is why they are the best and I’m just the white mamba
— Brian Scalabrine (@Scalabrine) July 10, 2021
Former Celtics big man and current NBA analyst, Brian Scalabrine commented on the post stating that both Ainge and Stevens had praised Trae Young highly heading to the 2018 NBA Draft. Even though Scalabrine admitted that he believed Trae’s size was an issue, he’s thankful that he was proven wrong in the end.
Before this postseason, Trae was often overlooked due to the exploits of Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic, the player that the Atlanta Hawks traded on draft night for Young’s rights. But after Trae’s first playoff performance against the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers, leading to the Hawks’ appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals, those days are over. His record-setting scoring performance against Milwaukee cemented his status as an NBA star.
Trae’s father and Scalabrine shared an exchange in the comments section under the post.
Even though I thought he was small. I did think he was a top 5 passer I’ve ever seen and that was his rookie year. And to be honest he might be even better then that. Thanks for the kind words
— Brian Scalabrine (@Scalabrine) July 10, 2021
Trae Young’s play made a strong statement this past season and the Hawks fanbase can’t wait to see what’s next. As he continues to get better, there will probably be more posts with stories like these in the future from his father.
