Trae Young nutmegs Kevin Durant during NBA All-Star game
When it comes to the NBA All-Star Game, it’s a showcase for players to show off. Pull off tricks, electrifying dunks, and a number of other plays to excite the fans. In Sunday evening’s NBA All-Star contest, former Oklahoma star Trae Young wasted little time in embarrassing former Texas star Kevin Durant.
Young dribbled the rock right through Durant’s legs.
It’s definitely one of the more humiliating moves a player can orchestrate on a defender and Young pulled it off. Sunday’s All-Star game wasn’t very exciting at all. The highlight above was actually one of the more entertaining plays. Defense was non-existent, to the point where the East All-Stars scored over 200 points. In doing so, they became the first All-Star team to score 200 points.
The East defeated the West with a score of 211-186. According to OptaStats, the 211 points scored by the East is the second most ever by an NBA or NCAA team in a game (regular season, postseason, or All-Star). The most was by Troy (a Division II school at the time) in a 258-141 win over DeVry on January 12, 1992.
Damian Lillard was named MVP of the NBA All-Star Game, after he pumped in 39 points and dished out four assists. Karl Anthony Towns dropped 50 points and had eight rebounds for the West.
Trae Young continues to play at an extremely high level, showcasing that he’s one of the best guards in the NBA today. This season he’s even averaging a double-double for the Atlanta Hawks, 26.7 points and 10.9 assists per game. He finished with five points, seven assists, and three rebounds in Sunday’s All-Star Game.
This was the third All-Star appearance of his NBA career thus far (2020, 2022, and 2024).
Young played just one season at Oklahoma in 2017-18, averaging 27.4 points and 8.7 assists per game to earn consensus All-American honors. He also helped the Sooners to a tournament appearance. During his time at Oklahoma, he was also the NCAA scoring leader and the NCAA assists leader in the same season (2018).
Coming out of high school, Young was one of the most decorated prospects in the country and played in the McDonald’s All-American Game. He played his high school basketball for Norman North (Norman, Oklahoma). In the 2017 cycle, he was rated as the No. 21 overall prospect in the country and a four-star recruit, according to the On3 Industry Rankings.
On3’s Andrew Graham also contributed to this article.