[Gilbert Arenas] on Trae Young being snubbed from the Team USA roster: “You see that list [Team USA] got? A sorry ass group… Some of them probably don’t even start on their team… It’s embarrassing when you have star players that do want to participate.”
by AashyLarry
28 Comments
I feel like a lot of people really hate Trae for some reason lol
Sure he’s kind of an FT merchant but not really any more than Butler or Luka who are both beloved
Trae is somehow massively underrated and I don’t understand why. The dude is fucking great
Wait, Trae Young was snubbed? How?
What happened with Trae and Team USA? Surely they didn’t just not choose him right, they must’ve had a reason. He’d probably be the best player on the team.
He didn’t make the squad in 2019 or 2021–and 2021 was especially insulting, since Pop took Keldon Johnson over him to replace Beal.
This year was supposed to be different.
From the Athletic in October 2022:
[How Grant Hill is building the next USA Basketball ‘Dream Team’](https://theathletic.com/3703269/2022/10/25/grant-hill-bradley-beal-trae-young-usa-basketball/)
> It starts with Trae Young, as sure of a thing as it gets in this nascent stage for the next iteration of Team USA.
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> Young, 24, a two-time NBA All-Star for the Atlanta Hawks, wants to play for his country so badly, and it just hasn’t worked out. That kind of thing isn’t going to happen over the next two-year cycle, which begins next summer with the World Cup in the Philippines.
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> Grant Hill, Team USA’s new managing director, is a minority owner of the Hawks and has a good relationship with Young. The two have already discussed him playing for the Americans.
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> “It’s exciting, knowing someone who has more of a say,” Young said.
he is pretty bad on defense and pretty bad off-ball，and fiba game known for more physical, I wouldn’t take a one trick pony to fiba game, also nobody likes him really, go to Gilbert’s pod to get clicks by deflate everything to everyone looked worse
trae would be the best player on the team. dude would dominate fiba
Let me first start by saying that I like Trae and think he is a great passer/play maker. He’s got a bright future ahead of him, but he needs to play more like Isiah Thomas (Bad Boys) and less like Isiaiah Thomas (Boston).
And when I hear old-head score-first points guards defending current score-first point guards, and none of them have won a title nor done much, well… I just see a pattern.
Even after their careers are over, they still don’t see how their ball-dominant styles put a cap on their success.
Great individual players.
Mediocre team players.
The last time Team USA put the ball in the hands of a ball-dominant, undersized guard who always looked to score first was 2004. We all know what happened when Iverson led that team.
The entire reason for structuring the team the way they do now is to avoid that.
Right over Arenas’s head.
Trae is pretty underrated, hopefully it keeps motivating him.
The irony of Gilbert calling something an embarrassment
This is insane to leave him off. Trae is the type of guy who can win a game by himself. So we replace him from Austin Reaves, Cade? WTF
fuck gilbert arenas
I’d be pissed too if I was a coming off a 26/10 season and I was snubbed in favour of Austin Reaves too
Ice Trae, famous for his willingness to play off ball
Steve Kerr, famous for his iso heavy offense
Team USA gave Trae an ultimatum: go bald or go home. Can’t have an inbetween bald dude on the roster
Trae is one of the best point guards in the league snubbing him is beyond me
I remember a lot of nba players withdrew from the 2019 FIBA World Cup Team where they ended up placing 6th. It seems like those players are some what blacklisted from any team USA roster now like Trae Young and De’Aaron Fox.
Might be a hot take, but Trae’s game doesn’t translate to international basketball. He’s a heliocentric player who demands the ball constantly. Also he’s terrible on defense which is key in FIBA tournaments.
Great individual player but I can see how someone like Brunson or Halliburton would fit more cohesively into the team
Like pretty much every player on team USA is a legitimate starter in the NBA and half the team is all-star caliber. Obviously not close to the other teams assembled but Arenas with another idiotic take.
You can only pick one or two ball dominant guards for team USA. This isn’t the All-Star game.
Can we quit paying attention to Gilbert
Trae young is a defensive liability, and teams like this don’t need a fulcrum of offense type
gilbert admitting he doesn’t know the players, doesn’t want to look at them, but is still embarrassed by something he has neither seen nor knows anything about. This is New Media.
Clearly the coaches don’t like him based on what they hear about him. Seems more like a chemistry issue than a talent issue.
But who knows.
Saying that with his shoes on hilarious
This isn’t the US all star team and I understand why they wanted hailburton and Brunson over trae
He is just butt hurt bc he isn’t going to get a ring before he retires.
Because they saw the fancy dinner Trae’s wife made for him. “can’t give this man more workload, he’s starving.”