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USA Today via Reuters

USA Today via Reuters

The 2021 season is one the New York Knicks fans will surely remember. After years of struggle, they finally were ascending. Led by All-Star Julius Randle, the Knicks made it into the playoffs for the first time since 2013. However, a 22-year-old upcoming superstar managed to single-handedly destroy their hopes. And ever since then, Trae Young has been a villain amongst the Knicks fanbase. Recently, he spoke with JJ Reddick about the insane heights Knicks fans have gone to after their defeat to the Hawks.

Only into his 3rd season at the time. Young was coming off his best regular-season campaign. The Hawks star had been snubbed from the All-Star game that season and had also boosted Atlanta into the playoffs. And in the first-round matchup, they met up with the New York Knicks. While many had the Knicks as the favorites, Young had other plans. He made his intentions with the very first game in MSG. Getting the crowd all quiet, he destroyed the Knicks with one floater. But that was only the start.

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Young elaborated on how Knicks fans are constantly trying to go at him no matter where they are.

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Trae Young is always going to be in the heads of Knicks fans

During the recent episode of ‘The One Man & The Three’, Young spoke about the amount of hate Knicks fans hold for him. Reddick even pointed out that they chant ‘F**k Trae Young.’ even when the Knicks aren’t playing the Hawks. Moreover, the fans took it a step further when they took the chant to a concert. Looking at this, Young opened up about how he feels living inside the fans’ heads while also sharing his story from the playoff series against the Heat.

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He said: “I saw a clip the other day, somebody showed me. I don’t know if y’all saw it, Denzel said something to the Heat about, somebody give that boy a haircut talking about me. Come to find out he’s a New Yorker. I mean, I am a big fan of him but then finds out he’s a New Yorker. I’ve come to realize it is what it is.”

Not only did he break down the Knicks in just one playoff series, but Young owned the role of the villain. Taunting the crowd and rallying everyone around him, he was a true menace in the Garden. In that series, Young went off putting up nearly 30 points and 10 assists in 5 games against New York to win the series. In addition, he still kept up the same energy in the regular season after dropping 45 points in his return to the Mecca of basketball, including a filthy ankle breaker on Taj Gibson.

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It is safe to say the rivalry between Young and the Knicks isn’t going anywhere soon as the 23-year-old has a lot of miles left on him. Do you think they will ever face off again in the playoffs? Let us know in the comments below.