The NBA is a player's league. With that label, sometimes comes a literal interpretation that the athletes call the shots. Constant trade requests and coaching removals only fuel that narrative for many fans. There is of course a lot of murkiness in between. George Karl has opted not to reserve judgment on Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young following the firing of head coach Nate McMillan.
The Hall of Fame coach previously criticized Young after the point guard reportedly had a heated disagreement with McMillan last December. He went right back to work Tuesday after news broke of the coaching dismissal. He clearly had no doubts about whom he deemed responsible, and juxtaposed the 24-year-old with one of the league's top stars.
“It’s a Trae Young vs a Nikola Jokic League. Me first vs We first,” Karl Tweeted.
The tension that surrounded Young and his head coach was naturally going to send a deluge of blame the two-time All-Star's way. Regardless, the Hawks (29-30) have arguably been the biggest disappointment in the NBA this season, two years after a surprise trip to the Eastern Conference Finals and nearly eight months after an all-in move to land Dejounte Murray. The team was supposed to be comfortably in the playoffs but sits in eighth place in the East. There is a slew of issues.
Whether or not Young pushed to have McMillan fired is obviously unknown. The often outspoken Karl has clashed with his own star players before, so his stance is to be expected, especially when considering he coached McMillan on the Seattle Supersonics. Jokic is by all accounts a great teammate who obviously makes the players around him better. Young has achieved plenty of success too, though, with 10.3 assists per game serving as some evidence of his ability to effectively work with others.
Naturally, a new coach will bring added scrutiny for Young. He is currently shooting 32.4 percent from 3-point range and less than 43 percent from the field. If the team is to turn things around, he will probably need to be more efficient.
Condemning Young is premature, though. History could look at this decision much differently than Karl does following these next couple months of play.
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