Why was Trae Young not selected for the 2024 NBA All-Star game?

The reserves for this year’s NBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis were announced on Thursday, but Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks was not among them. It's a rather interesting development, as the former fifth overall pick has been posting solid double-double numbers in points and assists this season.

"Ice Trae" has averaged team-highs of 27 points, 10.9 assists and 1.4 in 36.3 minutes for the Hawks. However, despite his solid play, Atlanta has not taken too high of a flight halfway into the season, with a 20-27 record.

That could be one of the reasons why Young missed out on an All-Star spot. The league coaches, who determine the reserves, apparently chose to reward guards from teams with better records and impressive individual numbers, like Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland), Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia) and Jalen Brunson (New York).

Speaking of Maxey and Brunson, their emergence this season made the guard spots in the Eastern Conference more crowded for guys like Trae Young.

Maxey, in particular, practically came out of nowhere to become the second best player for the Sixers. He's poised to continue to impress, with Joel Embiid out for a while because of injury.

That's apart from the continued ascent of Indiana’s Haliburton and Damian Lillard going East this season. It didn't help Young’s All-Star push as well that he has developed a ‘villainous’ reputation around the league for his cockiness at times and style of play, including being a notorious foul baiter.

The All-Star voting numbers say it all. Young was second in fan voting with 2.27 million, but in the players and media votes, he only ranked sixth for a weighted score of 4, behind Haliburton (1) and Lillard and Brunson (3.75).

All-Star starters are determined by fans (50%), NBA players (25%) and media (25%).

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What happened when Trae Young was snubbed as an All-Star?

Trae Young not being an All-Star this season may not necessarily be bad for the Atlanta Hawks. That's because the last time such a snub happened to their star guard in 2021, they made it all the way to the Eastern Conference finals.

That season, the former Oklahoma Sooner was on a tear, averaging 25.3 points and 9.4 assists.

The Hawks eventually finished the season as the fifth seeds with a 41-31 record in a reduced 72-game season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the postseason, Young led the charge for his team with 28.8 points and 9.5 assists, toppling higher seeds New York and Philadelphia, before losing to eventual champions Milwaukee Bucks in the conference finals.

This season, Trae Young and the Hawks are facing a different challenge. But the All-Star snub could jolt "Ice Trae" to lead his team to another spirited run in the second half of the season and all the way to the playoffs.