Trae Young tells Draymond Green he's tired of being cast as the NBA's villain, especially after the Knicks series. Young says his on-court showmanship and competitiveness get misread as villainy, and that he feeds off crowd energy whether he's booed or praised. Green admits he's contributed to the narrative himself.
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I went on Taylor Rooks' show and I said something about you. And I really appreciated the way you responded to it because people get in their feelings about a lot of shit. I mean, I used to get in my feelings about Charles Barkley, so I understand it better. I really get it.
Me too, me too.
But people really get in their feelings when you say something like sitting on this media side, And so I always can appreciate the way guys respond to it. And I love the way you responded, but I said something and it's right along the same lines of what you just said. So can we roll that clip? I personally think Trae has in his mind, he's taken on this villain role, like, and he's bought into it and he has dove headfirst in. He's good enough to take it on. And still play well and still be Trae Young and still be an All-Star and be fine. But I personally think it's the wrong approach. So what brings me to this is, you know, speaking about the agendas because, and I, by the way, when I'm wrong, I've been wrong before in situations as we all know. Oh. I'll be the first to raise my hand and say I'm wrong. I don't need you to tell me I'm wrong. I'm the first to know, trust me. That's why I don't appeal technical fouls anymore. I'll be the first to tell you when I'm wrong. And I actually said this wrong here. I said you're diving into this villain role. And the reality is, I feel like where that all was birthed really was the series versus the Knicks, where everybody in New York Knicks fans are fucking delusional. And miserable. And I love New York, so don't ban me from y'all city. But They're hard. They're a hard fan base. You go in the Garden, you hitting the shots, you ballin', every timely shot you need to make, you making every play. And what I actually think now, in continuing to watch and continuing to pay attention to it, is you are very much so a showman. But yet that's been flipped. And again, talking agendas, into being this villain. And I'll be the first to say it, being a villain, it sucks. Like, it's no fun. When you— but when it's up against you, you either fold or you stand up to it. You go into it. And so I've stepped right into it. And people has— Draymond Green. Now made you out to be this villain when in fact the way you shoot the ball, the way you play the game, they don't vilify guys that do that, but they've done that to you. Talk to me about that. How you feel about that? Like, do you embrace it at times?
Well, like first off, like you said, like this shit ain't really fun being a villain. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, I don't, Like in that video, I commented letting you know, like I didn't, I don't dive into that. Like I just, I kind of feed off the crowd. Like if you were listening to the game in the 10 minutes left in the first quarter of game 1, the whole arena was yelling, "F Trey Young." Like 2 minutes into the game.
Fuck Boston. They said fuck me too.
That's what I'm saying. So it's like, what do you want me to do? Like I'm just hooping, I'm playing. I ain't said nothing to the crowd. I ain't bowed. I ain't. Say it's quiet as eff in here. I ain't said none of that yet. Like, I just really played off of how they, I mean, they guarded me and how the fans reacted. Like, I just, I come out playing, trying to win, trying to put on a show. And I mean, if the fans want to get into it, like in the, with the Boston thing, like they started yelling it in Game 5, late in the game. So it's like, I didn't say nothing to any Boston fans. I think they was all cool with me the whole time. And then Game 5, when they were up 3-1, that's what happened. And then we hit the game winner and that's why I'm looking at him. But it's like, I just, I really just feed off of the crowd. Like I really don't like being that way, but like, it's been that way since high school when I was averaging 40 my senior year in high school going to different—
Light flex, very subtle flex.
Got it. But that's kind of what it was. Like I was going to other arenas and they was chanting overrated if I wasn't scoring and I was, people loved it. And then I was scoring and finishing the game off. And so, That's just how I kind of was looked at. And then videos of highlights when I come back in the NBA, that's how fans just gravitate towards that. And then it's just what it is. But I'm not like that type of person. Like I'd rather just go out there, put on a show, have fun, smile, and get the win. So, but if it happens that way, like you said, I ain't about to turn down from anything.
So who is Trae Young?
I mean, really just a family person. Like I'm a, When it comes to basketball, like, I'm just, I'm just so competitive. Like, I've just been competitive my whole life. If you win, like, I'm gonna make sure we run it back, make sure we can play again, give me a chance to run it back. But I'm just super competitive and I just, in everything I do, and I just, I try to bring my people with me and make sure my friends and my family is with me throughout the whole journey. And that's, that's pretty much it.
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