Trae Young has been cognizant of the devastating effect the suspension of the 2019-20 NBA season has had for players and fans. The Atlanta Hawks star returned to his native Oklahoma soon after the order to stay in his respective NBA market was lifted.
Young was coming off a bombastic 42-point effort in an overtime loss to the New York Knicks. The guard had read about Rudy Gobert testing positive for the coronavirus during the fourth quarter of that game, knowing the season would soon come to a halt. Young detailed how this has humbled him:
“As athletes, celebrities and things like that, sometimes it takes something like this to actually humble people,” Young told Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. “For us, sometimes you think you are untouchable or things might not happen to you because you are at this stature or whatever. It can. You see guys, big-time guys, superstars like Donovan [Mitchell] or KD get it. It is definitely an eye-opener.”
The Hawks star is palpably aware of how this virus is affecting the rest of the season and how it has gone with players. More than 10 have already tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and Karl-Anthony Towns' mother has been forced into a medically induced coma to deal with the symptoms. While this situation is dire, Young knows we can fight through this together:
“It sucks that this has to happen to us for us to really realize that and for other people to realize we’re actually just human, too,” said Young. “But we are going to all get through this together as people, not just athletes. We’re people and human together.”
This virus will pass with time, but it will leave scars on the history books, as well as on the minds of players and fans — all more appreciative of the luxury of having these teams compete year after year.
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