The Atlanta Hawks have had a rough start to the 2025-26 NBA season, dropping to 1-3 with a recent road loss against the Chicago Bulls. Point guard Trae Young had an unbelievable 17-1 assist to turnover ratio in that game, but it was another lackluster shooting night from the field for the polarizing all-star.
Recently, Young stopped by The Tonight Show during the Hawks' trip to New York to face the Brooklyn Nets, and while there, Young spoke on why winning at the highest level is much more important to him than individual accolades.
“Obviously the win and loss column is the biggest stat, the most important stat for me. I want to win a championship obviously,” said Young, per The Tonight Show on X, formerly Twitter. “That's every player's dream.”
The Hawks were hoping to vault themselves into contention to do just that this offseason when they added several intriguing pieces, including Kristaps Porzingis and Nickeil-Alexander Walker.
Both players have put up impressive numbers throughout their first few games in Atlanta, but the Hawks' defense, particularly in transition, has not been up to par so far this year, and the team is also suffering through Young's yearly October shooting slump.
A tough start for the Hawks
Fans were hoping that 2025-26 would be the year that the Atlanta Hawks finally got off the play-in carousel that defined them throughout the past four seasons, and it still very well could be–four games is obviously too small of a sample size to make any overarching proclamations about a team.
Still, the Hawks' tendency to let opponents get into the paint on defense has been alarming so far this year, as has the fact that Porzingis has already missed two games due to illness. Combined with a truly horrid first few games offensively from reigning Most Improved Player Dyson Daniels, it's easy to see why the Hawks have played below expectations so far this year.
Still, this remains the most talented roster Atlanta has had in at least a decade, and fans are hoping that they start to figure things out sooner rather than later.
