Atlanta Hawks superstar Trae Young entered the NBA in 2018, which is actually just one year prior to when Zion Williamson and Ja Morant went No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the 2019 NBA Draft. However, with all that has happened through the years, it somehow feels that Trae is the elder statesman among this trio of young stars.

In a recent episode of his own podcast, From The Point, Young shared his honest thoughts on all the controversies Zion and Morant have been involved in of late. Trae pointed to the advent of social media as the main instigator behind all the drama surrounding these two embattled superstars:

“Yeah, I mean, obviously we're in the era where we kind of grew up in it, and since AAU, we've all had social media, had Twitter, had Facebook or MySpace at one point, we've all had social media. It kind of started with us in our era,” Young said.

“So it's kinda weird being in the NBA. It's a totally different experience having social media, but it's crazy, just certain situations that are going on right now with Zion and Ja, but there's other instances that’ve happened.”

Then again, you can't say that social media is completely to blame for all this. After all, Zion Williamson and Ja Morant played a significant role in the respective controversies they have been embroiled in. For Zion, his NBA future has been put into question repeatedly amid all the injuries he's been through in his first four years in the league. On top of that, he's also facing some nasty allegations from an ex-girlfriend who has labeled him as a “sex addict.” Morant, on the other hand, just got himself suspended for a big chunk of the 2023-24 season following his second gun incident on IG Live.

Nevertheless, Trae Young feels for his buddies. The Hawks star empathizes with what Williamson and Morant are going through right now, and he just hopes both men are able to pull through:

“You hate to see it,” Young said. “I mean, for me, I know them personally, so I really hope they get out of this situation and pull out on the right side because they're so talented, they're so good. The league needs these types of players for it to go, because obviously LeBron [James], guys like [Kevin Durant], these guys are getting older, so guys are about to start being out of the league.

“You need guys like Ja and Zion, to be in the league because they're both really good dudes, and I'm pulling for both of them, and I think they will pull out on the right side. For Zion, I think it's just getting healthy for him. He just needs to get on the court, and I just hope he really gets healthy.”

Trae Young hit the nail on the head here. Zion and Ja are the faces of the NBA in the next generation, and right now, it's tantamount that they nip their problems in the bud while they still can.