Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young officially turned into a bonafide superstar in the 2021 NBA playoffs, leading his team all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals. But, it seems as there was one key reason why Young eventually took that step from being just a solid NBA player to an actual star:

There it is. Trae Young had to stop looking at guys like Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, and Russell Westbrook as a fan instead of an opponent on the court. It's understandable, though. He grew up in Oklahoma watching the Thunder when they had their own Big 3 of KD, Russ, and James Harden. Then just a matter of years later, Young was on the court competing against his idols. It had to be a pretty surreal feeling for the Hawks star.

Now, there is no shortage of confidence on the hardwood for Trae Young. He was a hated figure in the first round of the postseason by the New York Knicks fans, then also received his fair share of hate against the Philadelphia 76ers. But, Young's game totally backed it up, averaging 28.8 points and 9.5 assists throughout the playoffs as he single-handedly carried Atlanta to the cusp of the NBA finals.

It's really all came full circle for Trae Young but at this point, he is in the same conversation as the likes of Durant and Westbrook as one of the stars of this league. While he doesn't have the track record of the aforementioned, he's definitely trending in the right direction just three years into his career.