New York City mayor Bill de Blasio apparently is among the Knicks fans who have a bone to pick with Trae Young.
Clad in a Knicks hat during a press conference on Tuesday, de Blasio complained about Young pleading for fouls against the Knicks in Game 1. He evoked the name of Nets coach Steve Nash in saying "that's not basketball."
"A message to Trae Young on behalf of the people of New York City — and anyone who actually cares about playing basketball the right way — stop hunting for fouls, Trae," de Blasio said. "That hawk's not gonna fly in New York City.
"Come on. Play the game the right way, see if you can win. I think the Knicks are going to teach you a lesson."
It's impressive that in a 30-second clip, de Blasio was able to reference both New York basketball teams and work in a hawk pun. For that, he deserves credit.
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However, considering that the Knicks shot 15 free throws compared to the Hawks' 12 in Game 1, it would seem that de Blasio's request is an odd one. Young did shoot nine free throws, but that was just one more than Alec Burks, who had eight attempts off the bench.
There wasn't a major free-throw discrepancy and frankly, there weren't many fouls called in totality (29 combined between the two sides). Young may have asked for some fouls — what NBA player, let alone star, doesn't nowadays? — but he certainly didn't cross the line at any point.
Either way, it appears that Trae Young is living rent-free in the heads of New Yorkers. He embraced the villain role in Game 1 of the series when he hit a game-winning shot with 0.9 seconds left on the clock in front of a stunned Madison Square Garden crowd. Needless to say, he'll be happy about this development.
Meanwhile, many intimated on Twitter that de Blasio's comments about Young did more harm than good for the Knicks, as it provided plenty of motivation for the Hawks star to go off in their Game 2 matchup on Wednesday night.
Per DraftKings Sportsbook, Trae Young's over/under point total currently sits at 25.5 points.
After de Blasio's comments, the over seems like a very good bet.