'There's no beef or anything' - Trae Young refutes report of tension with John Collins | NBA News

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Trae Young #11 and John Collins #20 of the Atlanta Hawks celebrate their 123-115 overtime win over the Detroit Pistons at State Farm Arena on January 20, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Trae Young addressed reports of an issue involving Atlanta Hawks teammate John Collins on Friday. In NBA news today, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports wrote Young’s comments on an issue that seems to have lingered weeks since a report from The Athletic came out.

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“Of course if there’s anything out there publicly, I always go directly to [that person],” Young told Yahoo Sports. “As for the John [Collins] incident, me and him talked about it as soon as it got out the next day and we were both confused. It just got out and it was over a regular film session. So there’s no beef or anything in there to begin with. There hasn’t been any locker room issues on my side. Anything that people were saying about locker room issues, there hasn’t been one. It’s all about our team and how we’ve been trying to get better in film sessions.”

Trae Young with a Mamba tribute pic.twitter.com/63LyWEvw6k

— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) January 27, 2021

Locker room issues are normal during the course of a season, whether between veterans or young players. Trae Young and John Collins are part of the Atlanta Hawks’ young core that is still learning how to win in this league and these bumps in the road are going to be firsts for them.

Fortunately, or more likely by design, the Hawks are surrounded by veterans who know how to manage these types of locker room blowups.

Based on Trae Young’s statement, it appears that the issue between the two was indeed overblown and has been addressed privately.

NBA News: The History of Trae Young and John Collins' issue

Trae Young’s dismissal of a reported beef with John Collins goes against the aforementioned report from The Athletic, according to recent NBA news by Haynes.

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Young: "There will be times where we'll talk and times where teammates will talk about what we see we can get better at. That's a part basketball. You talk, communicate and don't always agree with each other. That's just a part of what makes this game so fun. You learn and grow." https://t.co/vHcnfGiGx0

— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) January 8, 2021

The problem purportedly stemmed from Trae Young’s clock management and his penchant for hoisting deep threes early in the shot clock. These issues pointed a finger directly at Young’s leadership ability as the team’s facilitator.

According to the report, it was Collins who was upset with Young and he wanted to be more involved in the offense. That is understandable considering Collins’ contract situation. When a player is in a contract year as Collins is, he’s more than likely to be concerned with his stats during the season in order to drive up his value.

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John Collins #20 of the Atlanta Hawks attacks the basket against Jerami Grant #9 of the Detroit Pistons during the first half at State Farm Arena on January 20, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Collins and the Atlanta Hawks did not reach an agreement on a contract extension prior to the start of the season, making him a restricted free agent at the end of the current campaign. Of course, the Hawks can match any offer given to him but Collins wants to maximize his value.

As the leader of the Hawks, Trae Young had to recognize this about his teammate in order to understand more clearly what Collins can do to help the team while servicing the talented forward’s personal interests at the same time.

Based on the Hawks’ recent outings, it appears that the Trae Young and John Collins have managed their differences well as Atlanta has won four of its last six games.

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