If the 2021 NBA Playoffs taught us anything, it's that Trae Young doesn't care about your feelings.
The Atlanta Hawks star not only navigated the hatred of the Madison Square Garden crowd in a first-round matchup with the New York Knicks, but he nailed it. When the Hawks went on to face the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. It was more than that. Now? He is going against the Milwaukee Bucks in the final stage of the conference.
Trai had his bag in his bag on Wednesday night as his playoff-career-high, 48-point performance helped the Hawks steal Game 1 on the road to 116-113. If it looks like he's been making a lot of scoring performances lately, it's because he has. Wednesday marked Young's sixth 30-point playoff game on the road—the most in the first season of a player's career in NBA history, according to research from the Elias Sports Bureau. Young set a record for most points in a Conference Finals game by a player 22 years or younger by LeBron James (48 against the Pistons in Game 5 of the 2007 Conference Finals).
But of all his impressive plays, one stood out because of the sheer audacity of the internet. Behold, Trai Shimmy:
WITH THE SHIMMY. pic.twitter.com/h6SmlIoB4U
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) June 24, 2021
They don't call him Ice Tra for nothing. As Young continued his fearless antics (read: bowling out), LeBron, Damien Lillard and the rest of the league turned to the fingers of Twitter to react accordingly:
❄️ CHILL THE HELL OUT MAN!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
— LeBron James (@KingJames) June 24, 2021
Yea Trae 🔥🔥
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) June 24, 2021
Trae is WILDIN’ right now!
— Damion Lee (@Dami0nLee) June 24, 2021
They hoopin hoopin 👀 https://t.co/EayB2ox2mz
— Dewayne Dedmon (@d_dedmon3) June 24, 2021
These hawks are unbothered… That’s a great thing to have in the playoffs. It’s actually a thing.
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) June 24, 2021
😳😳
— Robert Williams (@rob_williamsIII) June 24, 2021
🥴⛑
— De'Andre Hunter (@DreHunter) June 24, 2021