The Atlanta Hawks didn't exactly have the dream season that people were hoping. After a stellar run to the Eastern Conference Finals, Trae Young and Co. find themselves in the Play-In hunt instead of building on their breakout year.
But it's hard to put the blame on Trae Young. The Hawks point guard averaged 28.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 9.7 assists per game. He also took a massive leap in efficiency with career highs in field goal percentage (46.0%), three-point percentage (38.0%) and free-throw percentage (90.3%).
One huge boon the Hawks got from Trae Young was that he also played in 76 out of the possible 82 games this season. He was out on the court virtually every night posting monster numbers and it paid off with one of the most ridiculous records in NBA history now under his belt.
With the season coming to a close, the Hawks star will officially lead the league in both total points and total assists. That's an absurd feat that hasn't been done in the last 49 seasons.
Trae Young is the second player ever to do this (Tiny Archibald in 1972-73). pic.twitter.com/LSZlIvPOCV
— StatMuse (@statmuse) April 11, 2022
Young even reacted to the feat, breaking out some Drake lyrics that fit perfectly to what he's been able to accomplish this season.
Article Continues Below“Lead the League in scoring, but look at my Assist” ❄️🙏🏽❣️💯 pic.twitter.com/2OZzeO7gvU
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) April 11, 2022
The last player to ever do it was Nate “Tiny” Archibald way back during the 1972-73 season. To put into perspective just how long ago that was, Archibald did it while playing for the Kansas City – Omaha Kings.
One edge that Trae Young has over Nate Archibald is that he did it with much fewer minutes at his disposal. Tiny averaged 34.0 points and 11.4 assists per game but played an eye-popping 46.0 minutes per game. In comparison, Trae Young did it for the Hawks while playing in under 35 minutes per game, clocking in at 34.9 for the season. Couple that with the fact the Archibald played in more games (80 vs. 76) and Young did it with quite a handicap.
Trae Young is carried the Atlanta Hawks on his narrow shoulders this season. How far they reach in the playoffs will depend on just how heavy a weight he can carry.