It now feels like a lifetime away when there was talk about Jackie Young being a bust. This was after the 6-foot guard struggled early on in her career after being selected as the No. 1 overall pick by the Las Vegas Aces back in the 2019 WNBA Draft. Based on how she's been playing of late, it has now become abundantly clear that the Aces did not waste their top pick on her four years ago.

Right now, Young is headed to her second consecutive WNBA All-Star game. Her strong play this season has been recognized and rewarded as she looks to lead the Aces to another title. As a matter of fact, Young's elite level of performance has earned her a very apt moniker from her teammates. According to teammate Chelsea Gray, Las Vegas considers Young as their “silent assassin.”

Aces head coach Becky Hammon has echoed this sentiment from Gray. Young is not the most outspoken player out there, but she makes sure that it's her game that does the talking:

“She’s very much a student of the game, she sees the game,” said Hammon earlier this week, via Sean Hurd of andscape. “She doesn’t talk a lot, but let me tell you, she don’t miss a thing. She sees it all. We’re still prodding her, getting her to talk more. It’s coming out slowly.”

Young herself admits that she's anything but a talkative individual. She prefers keeping to herself, which is a trait that she has become completely comfortable with:

“I’m always going to be who I am,” Young said. “It’s cool being around people who are extroverts and loud and stuff like that, but at the same time I’m always just going to be me.

“For me, I’m obviously shy. I feel like I’ll always be shy. I’ll never outgrow it. It’s getting a little better.”

Chelsea Gray agrees with Young's statement here. Gray says Young is becoming more and more at ease with her role as a bona fide WNBA star:

“She’s talking a lot more and having fun even on the court,” Gray said. “I think you can see her being more comfortable and having the freedom to be herself.”

Right now, Jackie Young is playing at an MVP level. In 21 games played so far this season, the former Notre Dame standout is averaging a career-best 19.0 points on 57.1 percent shooting, 3.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.4 steals, while also connecting on 2.3 triples per game on a highly-efficient 48.0-percent clip. Be that as it may, Young isn't paying much mind to the MVP buzz:

“For me it’s just winning,” Young said. “Winning again.

“I try not to worry about things like that. People are going to talk about it but at the end of the day I’m just going to go out there and try and go play my game. Coach always says winning takes care of a lot.”