Trae Young Gets Fired Up to Play Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard

Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young will have the opportunity to face some of the league's best players during Sunday's All-Star Game, but he pointed to three point guards in particular when asked who he gets fired up to play against during an appearance on Thursday's episode of ESPN's First Take: Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving and Damian Lillard.

It is no surprise Young included Curry on the list. In fact, he acknowledged the Golden State Warriors sharp-shooter helped "pave the way" for smaller players like him who can pull up from seemingly anywhere and drill three-pointers. Young drew plenty of comparisons to Curry during his collegiate career at Oklahoma and now has the chance to face him in the NBA.

Lillard is another player who can tilt the floor because of his shooting prowess.

Opposing defenses have to pick him up almost as soon as he crosses halfcourt, which opens up the rest of the floor for his teammates to create open looks. The formula has worked for years for Curry in Golden State as well, and Young is trying to implement it in Atlanta.

Young was also asked about Dallas Mavericks playmaker Luka Doncic, who he will forever be connected to because of a draft day trade in 2018.

He said he understands why they are linked but doesn't go into matchups or other games with the mindset of needing to outperform Doncic. Instead, he wants to be remembered as one of the best players in league history and doesn't focus on his counterpart's accolades.

If Young is going to be remembered so fondly, he will need to elevate himself to the level of Curry, Irving and Lillard.

He is off to an ideal start as an All-Star at just 21 years old who is averaging a head-turning 29.7 points, 9.2 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game while shooting 36.9 percent from three-point range.