Thad Young had extra motivation for throwback poster jam originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Thad Young turned back the clock during the Bulls' win Thursday night with a loud, alley-oop slam directly on Charlotte Hornets forward Jalen McDaniels.
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As it turns out, the 14-year forward had a little extra motivation to uncork the jam.
"The crazy part was I had literally just talked with (Hornets guard) Malik (Monk)," Young told Stacey King in a postgame interview following the 120-99 victory. "He was like, 'You don't have that in your game no more.'
"I was like, 'I've had some dunks this year, now. Don't try me.' I said, 'Look, man, I'm from the south. Everybody from the south is athletic, I don't care how old they are.'"
That marked the 19th dunk of Young's age-32 season -- fifth among current Bulls, and the lowest total of his career if the season ended today.
But to hear head coach Billy Donovan tell it, no one on the Bulls bench was surprised to see the wily vet climb the latter.
"They (Young's Bulls teammates) always give him a hard time talking about how old he is all the time. That’s generally the topic of conversation," Donovan said with a laugh after the game. "No, I mean Thad can still get off the floor. And the thing that’s amazing with him is -- I don’t think people, maybe they realize it but I don’t know if it’s talked about enough -- he’s such a quick jumper. He springs up so quickly."
That virtue serves Young well on rim-runs and in his crafty, flip-shot-heavy post game that has bested defenders large and small this season.
For this dunk in particular, though, Young got a little help from his friend Zach LaVine, who delivered a picture perfect lob.
"You see how I looked him off and threw it to him?" LaVine cracked. "No, it was nice man. Thad will surprise you out of nowhere with his athleticism."
If Monk and the rest of the NBA are wise, they'll take note of that moving forward.
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