Few, if any, opposing players have embraced the Reggie Miller-esque role of villain at the Garden in recent years quite like Trae Young has.
The Atlanta point guard played the foil during the Knicks’ first-round loss in the playoffs in 2021, resulting in profane chants featuring Young’s full name from the MSG faithful ever since.
The 26-year-old Young only added to the venom — which he has called “a love-hate relationship — earlier this season when he mockingly imitated rolling a pair of dice on the Knicks’ midcourt logo after the Hawks earned a trip to Las Vegas and a spot in the NBA Cup semifinals with their latest head-to-head win in December.
“I think if that’s what he wants to do, it’s good for him,” Jalen Brunson said after Sunday’s practice in Tarrytown, a day before Young and the Hawks will be back in New York for an MLK Day matinee. “I mean, if he embraces it, great for him.
“I have a lot of respect for him as a player and everything, and I think that dates before I even got here [in 2022]. So I guess the fan base and him had something deeper before obviously me getting here. It’s another challenge for us, we’ve just gotta be ready to go.”
Brunson had said following the Dec. 11 “dice roll” loss that the Knicks “should win the game if we don’t want [Young] to do that.” Mikal Bridges echoed that stance on Sunday, saying, “We weren’t playing the right way on both ends … and if we played better, he wouldn’t have” done it.
“It’s sort of like the nature of the league, and it’s always that way,” Tom Thibodeau said Sunday. “He’s a good player, and so I think he’s authentic. We respect him, but we got to play. We’re not gonna get wrapped up in all the other stuff. But that’s part of the game today, social media and all that stuff, but just focus on what we need to do to win.
“But I don’t get wrapped up in any of that. There’s a lot of stuff that goes into it. Players celebrate. That’s the reality of today’s game. Just go out there and focus on what’s important.”
Former Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein, who signed with the Thunder over the summer, said shortly after the incident that he wouldn’t have allowed the three-time All-Star to get away with the disrespectful gesture, to which Brunson bluntly replied at the time, “Isaiah isn’t here” anymore.
Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
Asked Sunday if there is “a little more [meaning] attached to Monday’s game,” Brunson responded, “No. We have to approach every game the same way regardless of what happens. We’ve gotta stay poised, we’ve gotta stay composed, we’ve gotta execute our game plan and try to find a way to win. There’s always gonna be something where you can say use that for motivation. For us, no, our motivation is to win every game we go out there and play, and that’s all the motivation we need.”
The Knicks (27-16) have dropped six of their past nine games, including the past two with center Karl-Anthony Towns (questionable for Monday) sidelined with a sprain and bone chip in his right thumb.
The Knicks also lost to the Hawks (22-19) in Atlanta in November, and Thibodeau described them as a good shooting team that is “physical, long and athletic,” making them precisely the type of opponent that has given his team trouble recently. Young is averaging 23.2 points and a league-best 11.8 assists per game for the season.
“We’ve gotta execute our game plan, but we’ve gotta be ready to adjust when things aren’t going our way,” Brunson said. “Every game is gonna be a roller coaster, so you’re gonna have a lead, you’re gonna be down, you never know what’s gonna happen.
“So as a team, we’ve gotta be ready to adjust and just keep our foot on the gas. It’s gonna be times when they go on runs. We’ve gotta stay composed and stay poised and figure out how we’re gonna get a win.”
