Trae Young has only been in the NBA for five years, but throughout that span, he has already gone through three different head coaches. This is the main reason why he has earned the label of a “Coach Killer.”

Of course Young isn't happy about that. Not only does it put him under negative light, but the narrative also makes him look like he's not coachable and difficult to get along with. According to Young, it was only the critics who made it look like he's going against his coaches and that he's the reason for their dismissal.

Ice Trae started his career with the Hawks with Lloyd Pierce at the helm. After the firing of Pierce in 2021, Nate McMillan took over, getting the promotion after being an assistant. While he led Atlanta to the Eastern Conference Finals, he was also removed from his post just two years later.

McMillan's relationship with Young has been a talking point, especially amid the narrative that they have a beef with each other. McMillan's firing only fueled those conversations even more.

“This journey has been tough because, to be honest, I didn't have very many coaches growing up every year. I didn't really have too many different AAU coaches,” Young said on The Draymond Green Show.”‌

“So being labeled a Coach killer was crazy to me. But Lloyd coming in, he was my first coach, and having him, he was perfect for us. We were a young team. And the thing is, LP will tell you, he was brought in to develop guys. He was a development guy from Philly, was getting everybody right. This is his first job. His first day on the job was basically my first day on the job, too. So we came in together. I got nothing but love for LP. But a lot of people want to label it me versus him. Yeah, we butted heads a couple of times, and certain things, certain situations, but we always had respect for each other. And so people don't always want to label that part and mention that part.

Trae Young added that despite the rumors surrounding him and Nate McMillan, they actually “had a really good relationship.” He also shared that McMillan had some doubts about how long he wanted to coach, but they were able to convince him to take the Hawks coaching job on a permanent basis after the success they had. Unfortunately, it just didn't last long.

With that said, Young admitted he couldn't understand why he was pitted against McMillan as well when there was no beef or issue between them in the first place.

“But with Nate, we got to the conference finals, and Nate McMillan was our assistant coach at the time, or he had taken over halfway through the year, and he wasn't even guaranteed to go further on,” Young furthered.

“He didn't know how longer he wanted to coach. But we went to the Eastern Conference finals, and we were winning, and it got him his juices flowing. He wanted to keep coaching and keep coaching us, and we were all excited and doing that, and we wanted to keep rolling with him. And then, obviously, he gets let go. I don't know if it was right after that, next year, or the year after, but people wanted to use me again as a crutch for that. And for real, we had a really good relationship to begin with. That's the only reason why he stayed and stuck around. So people labeled me as coach killers with two of my coaches in the league, to be honest with you, I don't really feel about it anymore.”

Quin Snyder Takes Over Trae Young, Hawks

The Hawks hired Quin Snyder last February to take over from Nate McMillan. Under his guidance, Trae Young and co. made it to the playoffs via the Play-In Tournament, beating the Miami Heat in battle for the seventh seed.

Young has high expectations for Snyder as well, but he made sure to clarify that if ever the Hawks decide to move on from him, he has no role in it. However, he emphasized that he wants Snyder to be the head coach that will lead them to multiple championships, similar to what Steve Kerr did for the Golden State Warriors when he took the reins from Mark Jackson.

“I hope Quinn is the guy that we win three, four championships with. That's my plan. I don't see it further. I'm not looking past Quinn,” Young said. “Like, if something happens to Quinn tomorrow, if it happens, people are going to say it's me, but it's not.”

“I want Quinn to be the next Steve Kerr for me. So I've used and learned everything from all my coaches coming up, including LP and Nate. And so with whatever anybody has to say, I know where my heart is or my head is.”

Perhaps only winning will stop the narrative that Young is a coach killer. For now, however, the Hawks sharpshooter is just trying his best not to be bothered by it.