"I was just giving you a compliment" - Trae Young gets unexpectedly cut off by $49,205,800 Knicks star while sending message to NY fans

Trae Young has been a menace for the New York Knicks and their fanbase for years. Ever since Young led the Atlanta Hawks to a first-round gentleman's sweep (4-1) of the Knicks in 2021, he has been one of the biggest antagonist figures in the Big Apple.

During Media Day of the 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend, a reporter asked Ice Trae if he wanted to convey a message to the Knicks faithful. As Young tried to come up with something to say to fans who love to jeer him, an All-Star from the New York franchise put some pressure on him to speak.

"I don't know, they're a great team, they got great players," Young said, who is playing in his fourth All-Star Game. "They got some players that I really mess with on a personal level..."

Karl Anthony-Towns - who secured his first All-Star selection as a Knick this season - showed up behind some reporters. Towns, whose current contract is worth $49,205,800 according to Spotrac, claimed that he was there for one reason:

"Hey, what's the message you got for Knicks fans? I want to hear it too," said Towns.

Realizing that the big man was pulling his leg, Young played along:

"I was just giving you a compliment, bro...guys like KAT, man," said the Hawks star.

Notably, this lighthearted exchange comes from an intense Hawks-Knicks game that went to overtime this past Wednesday.

On a night when Towns dropped 44 points and Young had 38 points, New York got the last laugh as they secured the 149-148 win.

KAT and Ice Trae will share a lot more laughter over the weekend as they prepare to play together on Charles Barkley's Global Stars Team.

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Trae Young on initial All-Star snub this season: "It's getting 'Traed' at this point"

At one point, Trae Young would not compete in the 2025 All-Star Game.

When the All-Star lineup for the Eastern Conference was announced last month, the Hawks guard was nowhere to be found. This led him to post a sarcastic Tweet:

"& it’s no longer getting 'snubbed' it’s getting 'Traed' at this point," Young wrote in his Tweet. "Sorry to my fans.. it’ll change eventually! All right, talk soon!"

Young's words would come to pass as he was selected to replace injured All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo.