NBA insider Tim MacMahon explained why superstar Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks decided not to represent Team USA at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. The ESPN commentator mentioned to his coworker Brian Windhorst on his Hoop Collective podcast that he had heard that Young did not present a strong case for himself during his previous stint at the Team USA program (source: HoopsHype).
“I heard Trae Young did not make a great case for himself during his previous time at the Team USA program.” Windhorst replied to this by saying ” I will tell you that in 2019 before China, Trae was on the Select team. The US needed a point guard and Gregg Popovich promoted Derrick White. That obviously was his point guard at the time, and Trae Young and De’Aaron Fox, both, I believe, I know Trae Young, I feel like Fox, I had to check myself, but I thought Fox looked pretty good in that. We were able to see parts of the practices on the scrimmages.”
Young’s national career resume includes his participation in the 2016 FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship winning U.S. men’s U18 team, which won the gold medal. On the discussion panel together with MacMahon and Windhorst, Tim Bontemps of ESPN selected the point guards he would prefer over Young. “I would pick Steph, I would pick Jalen Brunson, I would pick Tyrese Haliburton, I would probably pick Jrue Holiday.”
“I would pick Steph, I would pick Jalen Brunson, I would pick Tyrese Haliburton, I would probably pick Jrue Holiday”
– ESPN’s Tim Bontemps on American Point Guards he’d take over Trae Young
(Via Hoop Collective) pic.twitter.com/c8IfNrJ0vc
— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) August 8, 2023
Young has been selected to two All-Star teams during the course of his NBA career, which speaks for itself. He was one of the major omissions from the FIBA World Cup roster despite being selected for the third team All-NBA in 2022. Lee Tran of Fadeaway World already explained Young’s exclusion from the team. Young had a season-high averages of 26.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 9.3 assists as he guided Atlanta to the first round of the playoffs. Despite the Hawks’ postseason loss to the Boston Celtics, analysts praised Young for his performances.
Trae Young Talks About Team USA Being Shunned
Trae Young already discussed his feelings about not being included on the Team USA World Cup squad on Gilbert Arenas’ podcast. “I would love to play with guys and show off my passing and not have to go out and score a lot and just be there if they need me to,” “I’d be happy to, obviously, I’d love to play, but I respect the OGs and understand you need to take your turn, but I believe that I should be on there,”
Young was noticeably absent from the current squad, which also includes some well-known players like Anthony Edwards, Paolo Banchero, Brandon Ingram, Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Tyrese Haliburton, and Jaren Jackson Jr.
On August 26, Team USA played New Zealand first.
