Atlanta Hawks NBA star Trae Young’s ethnicity, confirmed

Born on Sep. 19, 1998, in Lubbock, Texas, Rayford Trae Young — known as Trae Young — is a 26-year-old basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Playing as a point guard, Young has spent his entire professional career with the Georgia-based team.

Before his life in the NBA, Young was considered one of the finest college players in the country. He played as a freshman guard for the Oklahoma Sooners with a skillset reminiscent of icons like Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. On his way to being selected in the 2018 NBA Draft Lottery, he had a sensational collegiate season, stringing together 25+ points and 10+ assists like a senior All-American.

Since joining the NBA, although he’s never won the championship, Young’s impressive list of accomplishments continues to grow. Having already won awards like the 2018 Consensus first-team All-American, the 2018 Wayman Tisdale Award, the 2018 Big 12 Freshman of the Year, and the 2017 McDonald’s All-American, he’s now a three-time NBA All-Star, and he made it into the 2021-22 NBA Third Team and the 2018-19 NBA All-Rookie First Team.

Young, a proud American who represented the United States at the 2016 FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Valdivia, Chile, where he won a gold medal with the team, has an intriguing ethnic heritage. But is he Black, biracial, or mixed race? It’s the type of question his growing base of curious fans wants to know the answer to.

What is Trae Young’s ethnicity?

Trae Young’s father is Rayford Young, and his mother is Candice Young. Ray is an African American who played college basketball at Texas Tech University and later professionally in Europe (his whole family loves basketball, starting with his grandfather — and it’s widely expected his own young son, Tydus Reign Young, will continue that tradition). Candice is Caucasian.

Considering the above information, one could refer to Trae Young as Black, biracial, or mixed race. Most people tend to describe him as either Black or bi-racial (per Interbasket). Regardless, the combination of influences in his life has given Young a rich cultural identity shaped by his parents’ values.

Young was raised in an environment with diverse perspectives. While growing up, his father taught him about resilience and determination, and his mother taught him about strong family values and faith, all of which were instilled in him from an early age. His parents’ values strongly impacted his approach to life and his career, and they can all be considered key to his success (per Essentially Sports).

In the 2024-25 NBA campaign — their second full season under head coach Quin Snyder — Young’s Atlanta Hawks sit seventh in the Eastern Conference and third in the Southeast Division at the time of writing (they also reached the semi-finals of the 2024 NBA Cup, where they were defeated 110-102 by the Milwaukee Bucks.). Those positions will hopefully improve with Trae Young regularly in great form and with assistance from fellow star players like Jalen Johnson, De’Andre Hunter, Clint Capela, and Onyeka Okongwu. We wish Young and his team all the best for the future.