Before the start the 2024-25 NBA season, we ranked the 21 most iconic NBA shots of the 21st century. Coming in at No. 3 — trailing only Ray Allen’s retreating series saver in the 2013 Finals and Kyrie Irving’s Game 7 winner against the 73-win Warriors in 2016 — was Allen Iverson’s step-over of Ty Lue in the 2001 Finals vs. the Lakers.
Almost a quarter century later, Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young recreated Iverson’s iconic maneuver, at the expense of Malik Beasley, after knocking down the game-winning shot in Detroit on Monday.
Obviously the stakes of this shot don’t come close to matching a game-sealer in the Finals, but as far as the mechanics of the diss go, Young pretty much nailed it. If anything, he took it a little too far with a few too many stomps. Just the one emphatic step-over was all that was needed. But who am I to nitpick? He banged a game-winner and recalled one of the most iconic celebrations in history on the spot. Respect.
Young is nothing if not a showman. We’ve seen him completely take over Madison Square Garden in a way few players ever have in a playoff series. In fact, the NBA coaches have made it pretty clear that they think he’s actually more of a showman than a winning basketball player, as evidenced by their snubbing him for an All-Star reserve spot on multiple occasions.
This season, Young is leading the league in assists and creating more points per game, via assists and scoring, than any player other than Jokic. Still, he was left off the All-Star team for Tyler Herro, presumably because Herro is shooting much more efficiently.
NBA All-Star snubs: Domantas Sabonis got robbed; LaMelo Ball, Trae Young clearly docked for losing
Brad Botkin
It’s true, Young has not had a good shooting season. In fact, he’s had a pretty terrible one: 40% overall and 33.9% from 3. But he made a bunch on Monday (9 for 16, including 4 of 8 from 3 for 34 points), including the one that counted most.
