Trae Young was born on September 19, 1998, in Lubbock, Texas. Trae’s parents were both professional basketball players who played in Europe, which inspired him to start playing basketball in high school. He played high school basketball for Norman North High School in Oklahoma and then played a year of college basketball at the University of Oklahoma.
Trae was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2018 NBA Draft as the fifth overall pick but was then exchanged by the third overall pick Luka Don?i? of the Atlanta Hawks. Trae made his impact with only his first few games with the franchise and made it to the All-Rookie first team.
Young is a very skilful point guard who has excellent control over his dribbling and playmaking. His shooting from outside the arc and mid-range floaters make him stand out against any level of pressure. After four seasons and 280 games in the NBA, Trae is averaging 25.3 points, 9.1 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game.
Young has worked hard with the Atlanta Hawks to gain a lot of respect and recognition, his handful of achievements include:
- 2x NBA All-Star (2020, 2022)
- All-NBA First Team (2021-22)
- NBA All-Rookie First Team (2019)
- Consensus first-team All-American (2018)
- Wayman Tisdale Award (2018)
- NCAA season scoring leader (2018)
- NCAA season assists leader (2018)
- McDonald’s All-American (2017)
- Jordan Brand Classic (2017)
Investments
- Trae has invested in multiple broadcasting networks like Overtime, Star-Stock, and Hyperice. Star-Stock was able to raise US$8 million and Hyperice raised US$47.8 million, where Young invested in the Series A funding round.
- Trae Young owns a mansion in Oklahoma, which he bought in 2019 for US$1.5 million. The 8,100 sq ft house has a pool as well as a basketball court.
- Trae bought his first car after signing his first rookie deal with the Hawks — a Matte Audi R8, which is worth around US$138,000.
Net worth
According to reports, Young’s net worth is estimated to be around US$10 million, which includes his salary and endorsement deals. He signed a rookie contract with the Atlanta Hawks in 2018 which earned him US$6,571,800 during the 2020-21 season. He earned a total of US$8,326,471 for the 2021-22 season. In the off-season of 2021, Trae signed a rookie extension deal which could be up to US$207 million, effective from the 2022-23 season.
Charity work
- Trae Young founded an organisation called the Trae Young Foundation in 2019 to help with education and mental health. According to the website, the foundation “will inspire and help make a positive impact on all children and adults from all walks of life who suffer from Mental Health problems.”
- Trae won the January NBA Cares Community Assist Award in 2022 for his contribution to charity, which includes clearing US$1 million worth of medical debts for families in Atlanta.
Endorsements
Trae, being an exciting college youngster and runner-up in the race for Rookie of the Year in the NBA, has attracted a lot of big brands. He earns approximately US$3 million from his endorsement deals. Let’s have a look at some of his deals:
Adidas
Trae was approached by ‘the Three Stripes’ even before the 2018 NBA draft. He signed a US$1.8m deal with Adidas in June 2018. In December 2020, Trae announced that he had signed an extension deal with the company, which also included his own signature shoe, ‘Trae Young 1’, which was released in 2021.
Kroger
In the summer of 2021, Kroger Health announced a partnership with Trae Young and Turner Sports to start a health drive for COVID-19 vaccinations in Atlanta.
Commenting on the deal, Trae Young said:
“Over the last year, I have seen my community devastated by the impact of COVID-19. It’s hit us harder than most. I’ve been so inspired by the work Kroger and their Kroger Health team are doing to help us get past this pandemic, and I’m honoured to partner with them to drive awareness and education of the vaccine in Atlanta and around the country.”
Bodyarmor SuperDrink
Trae Young signed with Bodyarmor SuperDrink, a sports drink company, in the summer of 2020. The late Kobe Bryant had invested US$8 million in the hydration company in 2013, which was worth US$400 million in 2021 when the company was acquired by Coca-Cola for US$8 billion.
The financial details of the deal between the sports drink brand and Trae were not disclosed.
Zamst
Zamst announced a global partnership agreement with the Atlanta point guard on its website in July 2020. This two-year deal includes Young promoting the A2-DX ankle brace made by Zamst to prevent future injuries.
Tissot
Swiss watchmaker Tissot signed Trae Young as its latest addition to the athlete roster in 2018, after Trae was drafted into the NBA. Tissot already sponsors the NBA and some teams and superstars like Klay Thompson, as part of its NBA partnership. The company has installed shot clocks and integrated timing systems in all 29 NBA arenas. Trae was already a big enthusiast for wrist watches and was evidently quite happy with the deal.
Chipotle
In October 2020, American fast-food chain Chipotle partnered with Trae Young to launch a 53-Foot Shot Challenge, representing its 53 real ingredients. Trae was seen making the shot for the partnership on TikTok. The challenge ran for the first two–three weeks of October 2020. The challenge also featured some of the big names like Obi Toppin, James Wiseman, Cole Anthony and Dude Perfect.
Sprite
Sprite added another superstar to its NBA athletes list comprising LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Grant Hill by signing Trae Young in March 2022.
Fortnite
The NBA and Fortnite partnered for an event in 2021, ‘The Crossover’, which allowed players to select any outfit from the 30 teams of the NBA. The partnership also included Donovan Mitchel and Trae Young as the featured players who were available in the item shop.
eBay
Trae loves watches and has been buying and collecting from Rolex, Hublot and Cartier. His deal with Tissot has also helped his love for watches and unique collections.
eBay got Trae excited after offering him a deal in April 2021, which included a series of authentication events across the country where his collections were displayed on April 9 and 10, 2021, in Atlanta. Subsequent events were held in Nashville, Seattle, Las Vegas and Austin throughout April and May.
The deal also gave eBay rights to sell Trae’s Panini America trading cards.
Through The Lens
The ‘Through the Lens’ platform founded by trainer Alex Bazzell and NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony has the aim of showing fans how their superstars and favourite players work off-the-court or the BTS of their training. The platform signed Trae Young in 2020 and gave his fans the opportunity to have a better look at his daily life. The platform also released a Trae Young course on point guard skills, which can be bought and watched on the website itself. It has also signed other players like Kyrie Irving, Kobe Bryant and Candace Parker.
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