CLEVELAND — Hawks guard Trae Young will not be going to San Francisco.
The NBA revealed the reserves for next month’s All-Star Weekend on Thursday night, and Young was not among those named.
Young has led the league in assists per game and total assists for the season. This season, NBA analysts and media personalities had praised Young for his unselfish play and trust in his teammates.
The Hawks guard has averaged 22.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 11.4 assists per game.
“Oh, I mean, what’s new?” Young said. “I got a lot of thoughts. Obviously, I’ll probably talk about it later on in life, maybe later on this year. But at the end of the day, it is what it is. Top 24 players, best players in the league are supposed to go there, and they’re not getting the top 24 best players and (they’re) missing one. So that’s all I got to say.”
With his focus shifted on getting his teammates more involved, Young’s shooting efficiency dipped. But Young has hit some big shots, including a half-court game-winner against the Jazz earlier this month.
Young has shot 34.2% from 3.
When asked after Thursday’s game against the Cavaliers if the snub would fuel him, Young said it wouldn’t.
“The All-Star game (expletive), I’m used to it now,” he said. “That type of stuff don’t fuel me. I’ve been there. I was All-Star before tonight and I’ll be an All-Star the rest of my life, regardless of if I’m an All-Star today. So congrats to those guys.”
NBA coaches determined the All-Star reserves, while fans players and media members decided the starters. Young finished fourth in the final vote tally for starters.
“I think it’s more than that,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder. “For me, I’m extremely disappointed. There’s so many deserving players and this has, you know, (I) feel very strongly about the players that did make it that they’re deserving. But that also doesn’t preclude me from feeling the way I do about Trae.
“I feel like he’s had ... I haven’t coached him for that long, but I feel like he’s had the best year of his career. I think statistically that’s supported, whether it’s he’s the league leader in assists, that one jumps out. But then something as simple as like clutch points and clutch assists.
“So, not only is he scoring late in the game, but he’s also passing late in the game. So again, just to emphasize, no disrespect to anyone that has made it, but as Trae’s coach I am allowed to feel disappointment for him not making it. And that’s unfortunate. Feel for him.”
This year’s Eastern Conference reserves are:
Jaylen Brown (BOS)
Cade Cunningham (DET)
Darius Garland (CLE)
Tyler Herro (MIA)
Damian Lillard (MIL)
Evan Mobley (CLE)
Pascal Siakam (IND)
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