New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani took a shot at former Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young on Thursday. Mamdani blamed Young for the pricey Madison Square Garden tickets for the New York Knicks’ first-round series against the Hawks.
Young, who was traded to the Washington Wizards in February, responded to Mamdani’s jab with a tweet:
“Remember what happened the last time the Mayor of that City had my name in his mouth during a time like this.”
The Hawks and the Knicks last met in the first round of the 2021 Eastern Conference playoffs. Atlanta stole Game 1 at MSG behind Young’s 32 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. The point guard scored the basket that pushed the Hawks to a 107-105 win.
After the loss, then-New York Mayor Bill de Blasio sent a “message to Trae Young on behalf of the people” of the city and “anybody that cares about playing basketball the right way.” The former mayor called out Young for “hunting fouls.”
De Blasio dared Young “to play the game the right way, and see if you can win.” The former city official predicted that the “Knicks are going to teach you a lesson.”
Trae Young made Bill de Blasio eat his words as he dragged the fifth-seeded Hawks to an upset of the fourth-seeded Knicks. In the series-clinching Game 5, Young delivered 36 points, nine assists, four rebounds and two steals. He repeatedly egged on the Madison Square Garden crowd to keep up their “F**k Trae Young” chants. Young bowed before the hostile fans before mocking them as he walked out of the arena.
Although Young is no longer with the Hawks, Mamdani made the point guard the reason for the surge in MSG ticket prices. On StubHub, the cheapest ticket is $329 compared to around $80-$100 for Game 3 in Atlanta. “The Mirror” suggested on Thursday that fans “may be better off traveling to Atlanta for NBA Playoffs than MSG.”
Trae Young’s Former Team Is Underdog Against Knicks
DraftKings is giving the Hawks +220 odds of pulling off an upset in the series, while the Knicks are -275 favorites. The fact that the Knicks are not overwhelming favorites is quite surprising now that the Hawks no longer have Trae Young on the roster.
Atlanta’s new generation is led by forward Jalen Johnson, who averaged 22.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game in the regular season, career-high numbers for the first-time All-Star.
CJ McCollum, the main return for Young, is contributing 18.7 ppg, 4.1 apg, 3.1 rpg and 1.0 spg. The Hawks will need his veteran leadership against the battle-scarred Knicks.
Atlanta will try to replicate what the team did with Young in the lineup when the Hawks-Knicks series starts on Saturday.
College Sports Network has you covered with the latest news, analysis, insights and trending stories in college football, men’s college basketball, women’s college basketball and college baseball.
