Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young seized the perfect opportunity to mock the New York Knicks, his bitter rivals, via social media on June 11.
In response to a tweet from ESPN’s Shams Charania, which noted that the Knicks were denied permission to interview Hawks head coach Quin Snyder, Young wrote: “Hell nahh” with a laughing emoji.
According to Charania, the Knicks were previously denied permission to interview active head coaches of three other franchises — the Dallas Mavericks‘ Jason Kidd, the Minnesota Timberwolves‘ Chris Finch and Houston Rockets‘ Ime Udoka.
Furthermore, The Athletic’s Sam Amick reported that the Chicago Bulls also rejected the Knicks’ attempt to interview head coach Billy Donovan. As such, a total of five teams turned down the Knicks’ attempt to find a successor for Tom Thibodeau, whom they abruptly fired after suffering a 4-2 loss to the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Trae Young – Knicks Rivalry Began in 2021
Young’s rivalry with the Knicks intensified during the 2021 playoffs when he mocked fans at Madison Square Garden after the Hawks beat them in the first round. The following season, fans at MSG broke out “overrated” and “Trae Young sucks” chants even when the Hawks guard did not suit up for a regular-season game.
The hostilities intensified during the 2024 NBA Cup quarterfinals when Young trolled the Knicks by rolling a dice on the team logo after completing a victory. After his show of disrespect, Young said he planned the celebration even before the game.
“It’s [a] love-hate relationship,” he said of his relationship with Knicks fans. “I got a lot of love and a lot of hate I guess from them, but I got a lot love from them too. It’s respect.”
“I planned that one with my little brother a few days ago,” he said of his celebration. “We had talked about that and I knew what I was going to do. We were going to Vegas, so that’s what I had to do.”
Knicks Have Botched Coaching Search
Young isn’t the only one to poke fun at the Knicks for mishandling their coaching search. Longtime NBA coach P. J. Carlesimo ripped the franchise for not having a concrete plan in place after axing Thibs.
“That’s the Knicks. They don’t know what they’re doing,” he told The Ringer’s Ryen Russillo. “They are their own worst enemy. They’ve been their own worst enemy…I thought [Thibs] did a great job. Where are they going? I don’t know who made the decision…I don’t believe the players made the decision.”
According to The Athletic, the Knicks have pivoted their coaching search to include former Kings head coach Mike Brown and former Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins.
“While [James] Dolan is the holder of supreme Knicks power, and team president Leon Rose is the undisputed leader of the front office, executive vice president William Wesley (aka “Worldwide Wes”) continues to have the kind of influence that matters a great deal during times like these,” Sam Amick wrote on June 12.
“For Brown’s purposes, it certainly doesn’t hurt his case that his close relationship with Wesley dates back to the mid-2000s days when Brown was coaching LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers (Wesley, at that time, was a league-wide power broker and one of James’ primary confidantes).”
The Knicks are expected to finalize their new head coach before the June 25 NBA Draft.
