If you’ve watched any of the first-round games between the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks that have taken place at TD Garden you know the chants we’re about to reference.
In fact, if you’ve watched Trae Young play postseason basketball over the last three years, you know the chants we’re about to reference.
“(Expletive) Trae Young!”
Those are the chants that rained down from the TD Garden rafters on Tuesday afternoon, as the two-time All-Star essentially put the nail in the Celtics’ coffin during a Game 5 win for the Hawks. It’s a mean-spirited taunt in its nature, with the main focus behind the rallying cry revolving around getting in the mind of the superstar sniper. In all honesty, it’s just a mean thing to say to another person. Yet, despite all of that, the chants are viewed by the man himself differently than the rest of us.
“When people do that, I think it’s just total respect. I mean, they don’t do that to everybody,” Young said postgame, per league-provided video.
The 24-year-old isn’t wrong. The most famous example of a related chant routinely comes in the direction of Kyrie Irving, who was once viewed as the savior of the Celtics franchise before he turned his back and alienated just about everyone in Boston — and the NBA for that matter. Draymond Green, an agent of chaos in the Celtics’ 2022 NBA Finals matchup with the Golden State Warriors, drew the same chants before he and his teammates turned it into quite the sideshow.
Young, who has become all too familiar with those three words, just doesn’t seem to mind.
“I don’t focus on it,” Young said postgame. “As crazy as it may seem, I just really don’t focus on it. It’s not the first time I’ve heard it, so I’ve gotten a few practice rounds in learning how to handle that type of thing. So, like I said earlier, to me it’s a sign of respect. I just take it that way.
Young is no angel, of course. He’s been known to mix it up with opposing fans, specifically those who call Madison Square Garden home, and loves to play the villain. This series is the perfect example, as he’s put together three consecutive 30-plus point games. In a first-round series that shouldn’t have gone this far and certainly shouldn’t reach a Game 7, it’s about all you could ask from an entertainment standpoint.
Who knows, maybe if the Celtics can get the job and finally punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference semifinals, C’s fans will chant “Thanks, Trae Young!”
