Trae Young Dismisses 'Narrative' of Being a Scorer: 'I'm All About Winning'

Trae Young had a breakout 2019-20 season, but the Atlanta Hawks star wants to be thought of as more than a player who only puts up a lot of impressive stats.

Speaking to USA Today's Mark Medina, Young expressed frustration at being known as a scorer when a friend of his pulled up YouTube clips from his highlights this season:

"That's all cool and all. But I couldn't even watch it. It's so frustrating for me. I hate the narrative of just being a scorer and a stats person. Stats don't mean anything. I don't want that narrative to be I'm all about stats because I'm not. For me, stats is the last thing I'm bringing up. I'm all about winning."

The Hawks weren't among the 22 teams invited to the NBA campus at the Walt Disney Resort for the season restart after posting a 20-47 record when play was suspended in March. Only the Cleveland Cavaliers had a worse record (19-46) in the Eastern Conference. 

Young was a bright spot for the franchise and was named to the All-Star team in his second season. The 22-year-old had an excellent offensive season, ranking second in assists (9.3 per game), fourth in scoring (29.6 points) and shot 36.1 percent from three-point range. 

Per ESPN's Kirk Goldsberry, the Hawks defense was a major problem when Young didn't make his three-point attempts:

"Young misses 64% of his 3s, and opponents grab defensive boards on about 75% of those misses. On the ensuing possessions, as those defenses turn into offenses, they rack up a wild 127 points per 100 possessions, according to Second Spectrum tracking data. Folks, the league average offensive efficiency following a missed 3 is 112."

Defense is a significant problem for Young. ESPN's defensive real plus-minus ranked him as the worst defender in the NBA with a rating of -6.17 out of 520 players. The next closest player was Isaiah Thomas at --4.83. 

Young has already proven himself capable of putting up big counting stats, but he has to improve his all-around game if the Hawks are going to compete for a playoff spot next season.