Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young was asked about a game-deciding inbounds play, as head coach Lloyd Pierce drew up a play to have the 6-foot-2 guard inbound the ball with only 5.1 seconds left. The play resulted in Young chucking a 37-foot 3-pointer.
“I don’t know. That’s not a question for me,” said Young after a 121-118 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers that left the Hawks with the worst record in the NBA, according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic.
Asked what he would do if that was his call to make, Young doubled down on his previous thought.
“I’m gonna do it the coach’s way,” he said. “It’s not my way. It’s not anybody else’s way. It’s the coach’s way.”
Pierce was asked about Young's defense but was hesitant to say much besides admitting he benched his star until the three-minute mark in the fourth quarter, given how the Hawks needed defensive stops.
“I thought we were awful,” said Pierce.
This is only the latest page of a saga of a disgruntled locker room for the 6-25 Hawks, now the sole owners of the worst record in the league.
Young expressed his displeasure with this losing culture earlier this month, and while his words did not go over well, neither has the coaching on Pierce's part — given how the Hawks were expected to perform better than they have, even without John Collins in the lineup.
Collins went off for 27 points and 10 rebounds in his first game back after a 25-game suspension, but that was still all for naught, as the Hawks couldn't handle another bottom-dweller in the Cavs, further sinking the ship.
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