Tag: trae young

Klutch Sports favorite to land Trae Young after he leaves Octagon

Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reports that Klutch Sports are the likely landing spot for the Atlanta Hawks All-Star guard.

Just when you think Klutch Sports can’t keep growing, they add another All-Star player. And while it’s not quite official that Atlanta Hawks All-Star guard Trae Young will be joining La Familia Klutch, Yahoo’s Chris Haynes reports that Klutch Sports is the likely landing spot for Young after his previous agent at Octagon, Omar Wilkes, joined Klutch as their head of basketball.

Wilkes had been at Octagon for the past 8 years and represented Young, among others, such as Toronto’s OG Anunoby and Young’s Hawks teammate Cam Reddish. He is also the son of Los Angeles Lakers legend Jamaal Wilkes.

Klutch announced the addition of Wilkes yesterday and Young reportedly notified Octagon of his decision.

LeBron James himself has long been a big fan of Young and his game. Young was a camper at LeBron’s basketball camp since he was an 8th grader and during Young’s one year at Oklahoma, LeBron was one of his biggest fans. So, while it took some big moves, a unity between James and Young seems to have been in the cards for some time.

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Three Oklahoma basketball players named to ESPN’s top 50 individual seasons

ESPN released the top 50 individual college basketball seasons from the ‘one-and-done’ era (2007-present), with three Sooners…

Who says Oklahoma is simply a football school?

ESPN released the top 50 individual college basketball seasons from the ‘one-and-done’ era (2007-present), with three Sooners cracking the top 11 spots.

Blake Griffin comes in at No. 11 with his 2008-09 season. Named AP player of the year, Naismith Award winner, Wooden Award winner, Rupp Trophy winner, Big 12 player of the year, and a Consensus First-Team All-American, Griffin dominated the college basketball scene in his sophomore season.

Griffin averaged 22.7 points, 14.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and just over a steal and block per game in the Sooners’ 2008-09 campaign.

Trae Young snuck his way into the top 10 with the ninth-best season in the one-and-done era.

In his lone season at Oklahoma (2017-18), Young 27.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game as he led the Sooners to a first-round NCAA Tournament exit. A Wooden Award finalist, Young took home plenty of Big 12 honors as well as being named to a Consensus First-Team All-American.

Buddy Hield’s final season at Oklahoma has proved to be the seventh-best season since 2007.

The 2015-16 season was a fun one for the Sooners as Hield led them to the school’s first Final Four appearance since 2002. Averaging 25 points, 5.7 rebounds, and two assists a game, Hield was named the 2015-16 Naismith and Wooden Award winner as well as various national and conference individual awards.

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Trae Young to donate $4 million to help build multi-sport facility in Norman, per report

Former Oklahoma basketball star Trae Young continues to give back to the community. He is donating for a multi-purpose indoor facility.

Former Oklahoma basketball star Trae Young continues to give back to the community.

He is back in his hometown Norman, Oklahoma, and the home of the University of Oklahoma due to the NBA shutdown from the coronavirus pandemic. Young spoke last week at a protest in response to the tragic death of George Floyd in Norman.

Now he’s giving back to his hometown even more, according to a report from  the Norman Transcript’s Tyler Palmateer.

Young has agreed in terms to donate $4 million that would help mitigate rising construction and design cost at a new multi-sport indoor facility in Norman, Oklahoma. His money is going to help the indoor court at the facility. The entire project—that was set in motion in 2015—includes an aquatic center and is estimated to cost around $58.8 million.

The former Sooners star’s donation could become official on June 23.

In one season at Oklahoma, Young became the first player to lead the country  in points (27.4) and assists (8.7) and won the USBWA Freshman of the Year award. He would go on to be the No. 5 pick by the Atlanta Hawks and was an NBA All-Star in just his second season.

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LeBron James and Maverick Carter helping fund ‘More Than a Vote’ non-profit

LeBron James, Maverick Carter, and several other athletes are hoping to combat voter suppression and apathy among Black voters.

LeBron James has been using his massive platform and the incredible attention paid to him to call attention to social justice issues, racism, a lack of equity in education, as well as national politics. But now LeBron James, with the help of his friend Maverick Carter, as well as other major sports figures like ESPN’s Jalen Rose, Atlanta’s Trae Young, and the WNBA’s Skylar Diggins-Smith, are starting a non-profit organization aimed at helping Black Americans get the vote out in larger numbers, whether it’s combating voter suppression or apathy, according to Jonathan Martin of the New York Times.

“Yes, we want you to go out and vote, but we’re also going to give you the tutorial,” Mr. James told the Times. “We’re going to give you the background of how to vote and what they’re trying to do, the other side, to stop you from voting.”

According to the report, James and Carter are going to put up the initial funding for the non-profit, which will not be designed to help any single party but to inspire, educate, and empower Black voters. On Tuesday, James discussed the topic of voter suppression after voters in predominantly black neighborhoods were forced to wait in long lines to vote.

While it’s far from the first time LeBron has waded into politics, it’s the first time that LeBron and his business partners have created an organization for explicitly political reasons.

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Trae Young to walk in peaceful protest in Norman, Oklahoma, on Monday

The world continues to ache over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis a week ago. Trae Young is protesting in Norman, Oklahoma.

The world continues to ache over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis a week ago from today.

Protests have raged across the country in every major and minor city. Athletes have not just stuck to sports and neither have many that cover those athletes.

Members of the Boston Celtics walked with protestors in Boston and Atlanta as well as Mark Cuban and members of the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas. Countless other athletes have made statements and posted videos of where they are at since Floyd’s death.

Former Oklahoma star and current Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young is one of them, but he is going further.

Andrews Park is located in Young’s hometown of Norman, Oklahoma. It’s address is 201 W. Daws Street, Norman, OK 73069. The peaceful protest was put together by Norman resident Keivon Giles, according to a report from the Norman Transcript.

“We are just normal citizens who are just concerned (about racial injustice) and hosting a movement with local residents of the city,” Giles said. “…Let’s get together and be heard and make a difference.”

The protest is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. CT.

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The HoopsHype Weekly: Seven one-on-one matchups between current NBA stars we most want to see

Shaq and Hakeem nearly played a pay-per-view one-on-one game in the ’90s. We break down seven one-on-one games we’d like to see with current players.

You can get this content every Saturday morning in your email inbox. Click here to subscribe to the HoopsHype Weekly newsletter.

ONE-ON-ONE: Last week, NBC Sports’ Tom Haberstroh dropped a fascinating article about how close Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O’Neal came to playing a game of one-on-one on pay-per-view television all the way back in 1995, in what could have been a watershed moment for the Association. Unfortunately, it fell through at the last second, but it got us to thinking…

If a similar concept were brought up today, what one-on-one showdowns would we most want to see? So we came up with the seven most interesting matchups featuring modern NBA stars we could think of – six undercard style one-on-one games and the seventh, the main event. Let’s get right to it.

–Damian Lillard vs. Russell Westbrook: What better way to lead off the evening than with a matchup featuring two of the most explosive point guards in the game today, and two guys who have had some in-game beef in the past. Lillard famously hit a deep dagger in Game 5 of the 2019 playoffs’ first-round that sent Westbrook’s OKC team home, waving goodbye to the Thunder immediately after hitting the shot. Westbrook surely hasn’t forgotten about that, making this theoretical matchup a spicy one.

–Jimmy Butler vs. TJ Warren: The closest two high-level players came to actually throwing blows at each other this season came back in early January when Butler and Warren had to be separated by teammates before a fight broke out. We didn’t get to see another Heat-Pacers matchup after that, so to see a true culmination to this dust-up, Butler and Warren’s fictitious one-on-one showdown will have to do.

–Stephen Curry vs. Trae Young: Second-year Hawks guard Trae Young has been absolutely balling since reaching the NBA last season, and the most common comparison he gets, for obvious reasons (size, shiftiness and shooting ability), is Steph Curry. It would be absolutely awesome to see this teacher-versus-apprentice style matchup.

–James Harden vs. Luka Doncic: Another fascinating showdown between an established superstar and a young stud with a similar game, Harden and Doncic wouldn’t include much defense, but the offensive firepower the two ball-handling maestros would throw at each other would more than make up for that.

–Boban Marjanovic vs. Tacko Fall: After that many hotly contested matchups, we’re going to need a bit of relief to get our heart rates down ahead of the co-main event and main event. And a game of one-on-one featuring the two tallest players in the league, both of whom are absolutely adored by fans despite their limited skill sets, would be the perfect such remedy.

–Giannis Antetokounmpo vs. Kevin Durant: Two former league MVPs, the two tallest superstar-level wings in basketball and two players whose highly skilled games don’t make sense physically, Giannis Antetokounmpo vs. Kevin Durant makes for a fantastic co-main event. Will Durant come ahead, proving he’s still the best supersized superstar wing in the league after a year-long injury layoff? Or will Antetokounmpo win and show that that title belongs to him now? We’d love to find out.

–LeBron James vs. Kawhi Leonard: The battle for supremacy in Los Angeles bleeds out of the NBA season and into the main event of our card in a showdown featuring four-time league MVP LeBron James and two-time Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. As if this main event couldn’t be any more gripping just basketball-wise, there’s even history here, with Leonard coming out on top over LeBron’s Heat in the 2014 Finals, as well as with Kawhi spurning the Lakers’ recruitment efforts and choosing the Clippers last summer. Boy, the money we’d shell out to actually see these guys get after it against one another in a game of one-on-one.

CORONA UPDATE: As the league gets closer and closer to a possible resumption to the 2019-20 season, and it looks like there’s real momentum towards that actually happening, we were hit with the unfortunate news that league legend Patrick Ewing has been diagnosed with the illness. Our thoughts are with Ewing at this time.

ANOTHER LEGEND GONE: Outpouring of love and support came from all over the place after it was announced that legendary Utah Jazz head coach and Chicago Bulls guard Jerry Sloan had succumbed to Parkinson’s disease. Rest in peace, Coach Sloan.

ALL-STAR DREAMS: The Nets reportedly have interest in adding a third star ahead of next season, and one guy they might be looking at is Bradley Beal.

ZION GOT GAME: There’s apparently been talk between Spike Lee, Ray Allen and Zion Williamson about a potential He Got Game sequel. Zion Shuttlesworth?

IMPORTANT PIECE DOWN: If the season does resume, Utah will have to go one without second-leading scorer Bojan Bogdanovic, who will miss months of action due to surgery on his wrist.

AFTER THE DANCE: Fantastic oral history put together by our own Alex Kennedy about the 1998-99 Chicago Bulls team that won 13 games. Multiple players from that squad and beat writers who covered them chipped into that piece.

GOAT DEBATE: Already having covered the cases of Michael Jordan and LeBron James, we next went in-depth on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s GOAT candidacy. His legacy makes a much stronger case than you might think.

TROLL PIERCE? Paul Pierce is all over the airwaves recently due to comments he made in which he said LeBron wasn’t among his Top-5 players ever. What’s weird about that is just two years ago, Pierce said James was definitely in his Top 5 already.

WIZARDS OFFSEASON: We break down what the Wizards’ offseason will look like, from key personnel decisions they’re going to have to make to their future payroll – and much more.

DRAFT TALK: We were joined by BYU draft prospect Yoeli Childs to talk about how he’s preparing for the draft, what he envisions his role in the NBA being and a lot more.

Trae Young paired with Chauncey Billups in NBA HORSE Challenge on ESPN

Former Oklahoma star Trae Young, is one of the biggest players in the challenge, will be facing former NBA star Chauncey Billups.

The official pairings for the first-ever NBA HORSE Challenge were revealed on Thursday. 

Former Oklahoma star Trae Young, is one of the biggest players in the challenge, will be facing former NBA star Chauncey Billups. Other matchups include Tamika Catchings versus Mike Conley, Zach LaVine versus Paul Pierce, and Oklahoma City All-Star Chris Paul versus Allie Quigley.

Young is one of the fastest rising stars in professional basketball. After averaging 27.4 points per game and 8.7 assists per game in his lone season with Oklahoma, Young was drafted fifth overall by the Mavericks in the 2018 draft, but was immediately traded to the Hawks in exchange for Luka Doncic.

Young averaged 19.1 ppg in his rookie season, shooting 42% from the field and adding 8.1 apg onto that. He saw vast improvement in just his second season. He’s now averaging 29.6 ppg, which is fourth overall in the NBA at the age of just 21. He’s also dishing out 9.3 apg, which is second only to LeBron James.

The HORSE Challenge be aired on ESPN and will begin April 12 at 6 p.m. The participants will be separated into two groups, and the winners will move on to the championship round. The semifinals will air on April 16 at 8 p.m.

Chris Paul will join Trae Young for televised game of H-O-R-S-E

Based on his tweets, Trae Young is excited to be competing against Chris Paul and Zach LaVine in a televised H-O-R-S-E competition.

With the NBA endorsing and promoting an NBA 2K20 matchup featuring its players, it became abundantly clear that the league wanted to do what it could to provide entertainment to its fans during its extended suspension of play.

Last week, rumors began circulating that, along with the NBPA, the league was exploring the viability of having a televised H-O-R-S-E competition featuring some of its stars and, potentially, WNBA stars, as well.

The main obstacle in the way of putting the competition together is the fact that the league has suspended team gatherings and practice facility usage. Any competitions would need to be contested remotely, which essentially meant that only players who had access to a private hoop could participate. That’s not something that every NBA player has.

Fortunately, Chris Paul does.

On Wednesday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the NBA has come to a tentative agreement with Paul, the Hawks’ Trae Young and the Bulls’ Zach LaVine wherein the three would compete in a televised match of H-O-R-S-E.

According to the Wojnarowski report, the competition is also expected to feature participants from the WNBA, as well as some recent NBA alumni.

The NBA and ESPN are finalizing plans to televise a H-O-R-S-E shooting competition, with stars Chris Paul of Oklahoma City, Trae Young of Atlanta and Zach LaVine of Chicago among those expected to participate, sources told ESPN on Wednesday…

Players would be filmed competing at home locations — on indoor or outdoor courts — and compete shot for shot in the traditional playground game, sources said.

At this time, it is not known when the competition will take place or when it will be televised, but it is likely to be prerecorded.

Former Oklahoma star Trae Young to headline televised NBA game of HORSE, per report

Former Oklahoma star Trae Young could be competing in a televised game of HORSE put on by the NBA and ESPN.

Former Oklahoma star Trae Young will be competing in a televised game of HORSE put on by the NBA and ESPN, per a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. He tweeted on Wednesday that the event is nearing completion.

Young will join Oklahoma City’s Chris Paul, Chicago’s Zach Lavine, and a host of others including WNBA players and NBA Alumni.

In just his second year in the league, Young is widely regarded as one of the top up-and-comers in the NBA.

After averaging 27.4 ppg and 8.7 app in his lone season with the Sooners, Young was taken fifth overall by the Mavericks in the 2018 draft, but was immediately traded to the Hawks in exchange for Luka Doncic, another rising star.

Young averaged 19.1 ppg in his rookie season, shooting 42% from the field and adding 8.1 app onto that. He saw vast improvement in just his second season. He’s now averaging 29.6 ppg, which is fourth overall in the NBA at the age of just 21. He’s also dishing out 9.3 assists per game, which is second only to LeBron James.

No date or time has been released for the event.

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