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Trae Young’s Mockery Of Angel Reese & Co For Dropping MJ Shrug On Caitlin Clark Backfires

Published 04/02/2024, 12:57 AM EDT

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USA Today via Reuters

Fans brutally trolled Trae Young following his reaction to the Reese-Clark match-up. The NCAA match-up between LSU and Iowa turned the hoops community’s attention to the TV screens. The game had a lot of high points, but one of them stood out. Angel Reese and her teammates engaged in dropping the famous ‘Michael Jordan shrug’ celebration on Caitlin Clark. But, it didn’t end well for the LSU Tigers, as Clark had the last laugh, winning the game.

Joining the bandwagon, the Atlanta Hawks star also reacted to the ‘MJ shrug’ celebration and took a dig at Reese & Co. Young reposted the pictures of the celebrations and wrote, “The reverse MJ meme,” with a laughing emoji. In one of the pictures he shared, we can see Reese shrugging, with Clark right behind her. This picture was from the 2023 finals, where Reese taunted Clark. At the time, this “shrug” went viral, symbolizing what one player is doing on the court was pretty easy to accomplish. Since it went viral, it quickly turned into a meme.

In the other picture on Young’s tweet, we can see Hailey Van Litch (LSU Tigers) doing a similar shrug, with Clark again in the background. But this time, the meaning was completely reversed. The electric performance Clark threw on Monday depicted Van Lith trying to indicate what else she could do to stop her. Hence the “Reverse MJ meme” comment by Young.

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The reactions came through after Caitlin shot threes in No.1 Iowa’s win over No. 3 LSU, 94-87 on Monday. The shrugs seen on-court were perhaps appropriate to a certain extent to display how a player would feel when trying to combat and take down Clark, who of course, as we all know, takes whatever shot she can.  Clark finished the night extensively with 41 points, 12 assists, and hit 9 3-pointers. She’s averaging 32.3 points in the NCAA tournament, situating her team to the Final Four, for the second time. So, if Clark continues with this performance, she can defensively take Iowa to their first championship in NCAA history. On the other hand, Reese ended the night with 17 points, 20 rebounds, and a double-double, still falling short of achieving her goal to win the championship, back-to-back.

But then again, little did Trae Young know that it would backfire on him. Moments after he shared the post, fans swarmed the comments section and brutally trolled him. Here are some reactions from fans.

A fan didn’t hesitate to claim the NCAA player better than him.

While the previous fan only compared him to Angel Reese, another fan put him against the entire team.

This fan took a dig at his age and passed hilarious comment.

Another fan asked him to focus on the Atlanta Hawks.

Trae Young has had a tough time in the last weeks. The star guard sustained a finger injury on February 23, and he has been on the bench ever since. On the other hand, the Hawks also have their season on the line. With only 7 games left in the regular season, the team will look to get closer to the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference.

Currently, the Atlanta side is in the 10th seed and comfortably qualified for the play-in tournament as the 11th-seeding Brooklyn Nets are nowhere closer to chasing them down.

Will Trae Young shut down his critics with his return?

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Reacting to Young’s post, many fans criticized him for his game and trolled him to focus on his team instead. In this season, Ice Trae has averaged 26.4 points with a whooping 10.8 assists per game. The recent injury report stated that the star would return to the floor before the playoffs and it’s a massive boost for the side.

The Hawks without Young have produced brilliant games lately. For instance, the team led by Dejounte Murray defeated the top-seeding Boston Celtics twice in a back-to-back game. In March, Murray shouldered the side, averaging 26.7 points. If Young joins the thriving Hawks right before the playoffs, the team might have a chance at the ring this season.

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Will Trae Young shut down his critics with his comeback? Let us know in the comments below.

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Written by:

Shahul Hameed

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Shahul Hameed is a Senior NBA Writer at EssentiallySports. Armed with a Master's Degree in journalism from a distinguished institute, his journey into sports writing began during his college days, and since then, Shahul has been captivated not only by the remarkable consistency of Stephen Curry but also by the enduring legacy of LeBron James. He specializes in covering the live basketball action.
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