Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young tweeted out an amusing clip of disappointment after not being selected for the Team USA Basketball roster.
As Team USA Basketball continues preparation for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, they will need to find a replacement for All-Star Bradley Beal. As announced on Thursday, the Washington Wizards guard will not travel with the team after testing positive for COVID-19.
A replacement has yet to be announced, but it doesn’t appear Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young will be getting the call.
Young tweeted out a clip from The Last Dance documentary of former Detroit Pistons point guard Isiah Thomas, who was snubbed from the 1992 Dream Team.
The words of Thomas stating, “I don’t know what went into that process. I met the criteria to be selected,” have an eerily similar feeling with Young not being called as a reinforcement.
Trae Young tweets his disappointment on Team USA snub
Without speculating, it’s likely for different reasons, as it became well known Thomas was disliked strongly by Michael Jordan and other members of Team USA in 1992 both on and off the court. There aren’t many who figure to make more of an impact than Young can right now.
Stephen Curry is a name that comes to mind, but he’s already declined an invitation to participate. Donavan Mitchell and James Harden would also figure to slot in well, but both players are coming off injuries in the postseason. Young is coming off an ankle injury as well, but you figure he feels healthy enough to compete at a high level if he’s voicing his disappointment.
In his third season, Young averaged 25.3 points and a career-high 9.4 assists a night in 63 games. Young also led the Hawks in a surprise run to the Eastern Conference Finals, averaging 28.8 points per game in his first playoff stretch.
One could argue Young’s playmaking and scoring abilities are among the best in the league at the moment. Clearly those in charge of constructing the Team USA roster have something else in mind in finding their replacement for Beal.