"Chuck, eat a Twinkie and be quiet sometimes" - Trae Young hilariously fires shots at Charles Barkley following this All-Star selection and Barkley's criticism of Atlanta Hawks

Trae Young ribbed Charles Barkley after the former was selected to start in this year's All-Star Game. [Photo: Sportcasting]

Trae Young has just been selected as a starter for the 2021-22 All-Star Game after missing last year’s edition. The inclusion marks the second time in his career that the Atlanta Hawks point guard is slated to join the NBA’s premiere mid-season show.

Upon hearing the news, one of the league’s best trash talkers immediately took to social media to take a shot at Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley. As one of the analysts of the award-winning show, Inside the NBA, “Sir Charles” has been very candid about how poorly the Atlanta Hawks have been playing this season.

The 23-year-old playmaker apparently kept Barkley’s comments in his back pocket. After expressing his love and gratitude to his fans, Trae Young had to dish this out:

“Chuck, eat a Twinkie and be quiet sometimes”

"Eat a Twinkie and be quiet sometimes" 😂

@TheTraeYoung firing shots at Chuck after being named a #NBAAllStar starter https://t.co/x2t1iGHyeU

Young’s comments were in response to Charles Barkley’s analysis before the Atlanta Hawks faced the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks on MLK Day. The NBA legend trolled the Hawks with some nasty words:

“I’m thinking the Hawks are that pretty girl whose makeup came off and she’s ugly. That’s what the Hawks are.”

Charles Barkley: “I'm thinking the Hawks are that pretty girl whose makeup came off and she's ugly. That's what the Hawks are.” https://t.co/SPZvk94dlC

Heading into the game against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, Trae Young and the Hawks were on a five-game losing streak. They had also lost eight of ten games at that point. Following Barkley’s trolling, the Hawks have since reeled off five straight wins in convincing fashion.

Despite Trae Young’s dazzling performance this campaign, the Atlanta Hawks are still in 12th place in a stacked Eastern Conference. They have struggled badly on defense and have failed to meet the expectations of many since reaching the Eastern Conference Finals last season.

Trae Young can’t carry the Atlanta Hawks without a drastic improvement on defense

The Atlanta Hawks have been disappointing since losing in the Eastern Conference Finals against the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks. [Photo: Brew Hoop]

Trae Young and their offense torching opponents nightly won’t cut it for the Atlanta Hawks if they can’t stop teams from scoring on the other end. For most of this season, the team has been horrible on defense. They have only consistently earned wins when their defense is average, at the very least.

Currently, the Atlanta Hawks are 27th in defensive rating with a 113.2 DRtg per NBA stats. During their five-game winning streak, that defense has dramatically improved to 109.8 DRtg, tying them with the Chicago Bulls for 17th place.

Atlanta Hawks defensive rating:

First 42 games: 113.8 (28th in NBA)

Last four games: 109.8 (15th in NBA)

If their defense gets into the top ten, they're a contender once again.

Back in mid-to-late November, the Atlanta Hawks strung together a season-best seven-game winning run. Their defensive rating was even better, with a 108.7 DRtg. If their defense remains in the middle of the pack, their sizzling hot offense behind Young will do the rest.

Charles Barkley isn't likely to troll the Hawks again if their defense starts to punch its weight.