Zaccharie Risacher sizzles in first half with 22 points (1:11)
Zaccharie Risacher puts on an early show vs. the Knicks, putting up 22 points in the first half. (1:11)
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Anthony Gharib, ESPNNov 6, 2024, 11:19 PM ET
Three years after a memorable playoff series, Trae Young is still finding a way to butt heads with fans of the New York Knicks.
The bad blood has remained even though the characters have largely changed. Most notably, Young is still a key part of the rivalry and if there’s one thing he relishes, it’s giving Knicks fans a little something extra each time they play.
The Atlanta Hawks guard had 23 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds in a 121-116 win Wednesday night against the visiting Knicks. It marked his seventh career 20-point, 10-assist game vs. the Knicks (regular season and playoffs), the most by any player against New York since Young entered the NBA in 2018-19, according to ESPN Research.
During an on-court interview after the win, Young had a simple message for the New York fans at State Farm Arena.
“I hope these New York fans find their way to the exit real real quickly,” he said. “Boo, take y’all asses home.”
Trae said go home 😂 pic.twitter.com/l1OoKhwvVF
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) November 7, 2024
The Hawks amplified the trolling by resharing an Atlanta Falcons post that celebrated their 27-21 win over the Dallas Cowboys. The original bandwagon-fan joke was transformed into a triple threat that mocked three of sports’ largest fan bases at once: the Knicks, Cowboys and the New York Yankees in one post. The timing was particularly sharp, coming just days after the Yankees’ World Series defeat to the Dodgers.
still goin through it https://t.co/VSymZeUpLW pic.twitter.com/T73TvD2CWx
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) November 7, 2024
Young has often been enemy No. 1 for Knicks’ fans since the teams faced off in the first round of the 2021 Eastern Conference playoffs.
He averaged 29.2 points and 9.8 assists as Atlanta eliminated New York in five games. At the end of Game 5, Young memorably took a bow at center court and waved goodbye to the New York crowd after icing the game at Madison Square Garden.
Since then, Knicks fans haven’t been shy about their treatment toward the All-Star guard, chanting “F— Trae Young” at various events, even if Young isn’t playing against them.
On an episode of Paul George‘s podcast in August, Young called the chants “super funny” while sharing an interaction with a fan and his reaction to the crowd.
“I’ll never forget this young little girl … just giving me the finger like right behind the scorer’s table. … There’s a lot of photos of me looking in the crowd just smiling,” Young said. “That’s kind of my reaction. I’m just looking at the reactions of all these people just flipping me off. Ten minutes in the first quarter, I ain’t do nothing.”
New York will surely remember Young’s trolling from Wednesday night. The Knicks and Hawks next play each other in New York on Jan. 20.
