Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young will be an NBA All-Star this season afterall.
After initially being the biggest snub of the NBA All-Star Games, Young on Monday was named a replacement for Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is unable to participate because of an injury.
It's the fourth time Young has been named an NBA All-Star since finishing his career as an Oklahoma Sooner.
Some things in life are just bigger than yourself…
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) February 10, 2025
4X ! 🌟🌟🌟🌟 pic.twitter.com/d8W3FUj15L
Most NBA experts were stunned when Young didn't make the cut at first during one of the best seasons of his career.
Young is averaging a double-double with 23.4 points and 11.4 assists a game. His assists average is the best in the NBA this season and his points average is in the top 25.
In the month of February, Young has scored at least 30 points in four of six games.
Before his NBA career, Young spent one season at OU in 2017-18. As a freshman, he led the country in points (848), points per game (27.4), assists (271), assists per game (8.7) and assist percentage (48.6%).
Young was then named the winner of the Wayman Tisdale Award for National Freshman of the Year.
After that season, the Dallas Mavericks drafted Young with the fifth overall pick of the 2018 NBA Draft before almost immediately trading him to Atlanta for Luka Dončić. It seemed like the Mavericks won that trade up until recently when Dallas traded Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers while the Hawks still have their young All-Star.
The NBA All-Star Games will be on Sunday night and include three different games this season. There will also be the State Farm All-Star Saturday Night, with former Sooner Buddy Hield competing in the 3-point contest.