Trae Young has accomplished quite a bit during his six-year NBA career. However, the Atlanta Hawks star guard believes he’d be “the best player to ever play” if he stood 6-foot-8.
“I used to have this saying: ‘I hate when I see guys that are tall,’ and that’s all. You know what I’m saying? They’re just tall, and that’s it. They can finish, they can do some stuff, but if I was 6-8, I feel like I would be the best player to ever play this game just because of my mentality and the smartness I have on this game,” Young said on the Million Dollars Worth of Game podcast.
Young stands at 6-foot-1, but has still managed to become one of the NBA’s most lethal scorers. In fact, he’s put together averages of 25.5 points, 9.5 assists and 3.6 rebounds while shooting 35.5% from beyond the arc.
“I feel like there’s a lot I can bring, but there are a lot of deficiencies because I’m 6-1, 6-2,” Young added. “It’s tough, and I’m playing in a big man’s game, you know what I’m saying? But I make it work.”
Young is coming off of a season in which he averaged 25.7 points, 10.8 assists and 2.8 rebounds while shooting 37.3% from 3. His 10.8 assists per contest marked a career-high in his sixth professional season.
There’s no denying Young is on the smaller end of the spectrum when it comes to some of the league’s top guards. However, placing Young in the conversation with the likes of Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and many others is certainly a intriguing debate. If he was taller, perhaps the scoring numbers would be higher than what he’s currently able to produce.
