Nicholas Aaron Young, nicknamed "Swaggy P", is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays both shooting guard and small forward positions. Young played college basketball for the USC Trojans and was a two-time first-team all-conference selection in the Pac-10. He was selected by the Washington Wizards in the first round of the 2007 NBA draft with the 16th overall pick. He won an NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2018. 

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Born in Los Angeles, California, Young played for Cleveland High School in suburban Reseda, California. He averaged 27.2 points and 10.8 rebounds as a 2004 senior at Cleveland, earning 2004 CIF L.A. City Section, Los Angeles Times All-City and San Fernando Valley first team honors. He shot 57.3% from the field and 46.8% from three-point range (52-of-111), had 48 steals and 41 blocks as Cleveland finished 25–4. Young was tabbed the seventh-best player in the country by HoopScoop and listed by prep basketball guru Frank Burlison as among the Top 50 recruits in 2004. He once scored 56 points in one game and had 23 rebounds in another. He earned CIF L.A. City Section first team honors in 2003 and was included in a list of Top Seniors by Athlon heading into 2004.

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Young played for the University of Southern California from 2004 to 2007 and was All-Pac-10 First Team in the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. In the 2007 NCAA Tournament, Young led the fifth-seeded Trojans to a berth in the Sweet Sixteen, where they lost to the one-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels, 74–64. Along the way, Young led USC to a 77–60 first-round win against Arkansas. In the 2nd round, Young led the team with 22 points over the Texas Longhorns in an 87–68 rout of the team featuring the National Player of the Year, Kevin Durant, though Durant led both teams in scoring with 30.

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Following his junior season, as expected, Young announced on April 15, 2007 to the Los Angeles Times that he would forgo his senior year to turn professional and enter the 2007 NBA Draft, where he was selected with the 16th overall pick by the Washington Wizards.

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Young was selected 16th overall by the Washington Wizards in the 2007 NBA draft. He started his first career NBA game on December 15, 2007, against the Sacramento Kings.

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Young scored a career-high 43 points on January 11, 2011 against the Sacramento Kings.

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On March 15, 2012, Young was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in a three-way trade involving the Denver Nuggets and Washington Wizards. Later, on April 16, 2012, he helped the Clippers clinch their first playoff berth in 6 years with a 19-point performance against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He was also a key part of the Clippers' comeback victory against the Memphis Grizzlies in game one of the first round of the 2012 playoffs, making three three-pointers in under a minute.

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On July 12, 2012, Young signed with the Philadelphia 76ers to a one-year deal.

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On July 11, 2013, Young signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. During the 2013–14 season, he converted a Lakers' record seven four-point plays while averaging a career-high 17.9 points per game.

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On July 21, 2014, Young re-signed with Lakers to a reported four-year, $21.5 million contract. During training camp, he suffered a complete tear of the radial collateral ligament in his right thumb, and was expected to miss six to eight weeks. After missing the first ten games of the season with the injury, Young made his season debut on November 18 against the Atlanta Hawks, recording 17 points and 5 rebounds in a 114–109 win. On December 12, he scored a season-high 29 points in a 112–110 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

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On July 7, 2017, Young signed with the Golden State Warriors. In his debut for the Warriors in their season opener on October 17, 2017, Young came off the bench to hit six 3-pointers and score 23 points in a 122–121 loss to the Houston Rockets. He helped the Warriors reach the 2018 NBA Finals, where they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in a four-game sweep, with Young winning his first NBA championship.

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On December 10, 2018, Young signed with the Denver Nuggets. Twenty days later, on December 30, he was waived by the Nuggets.

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In 2007, Young became the main subject of a documentary titled Second Chance Season, in which his exploits, shortcomings, and successes are reviewed.

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Young is the cousin of Kevon Looney, who is also an NBA player. They became teammates with the Warriors in 2017–18. Young is also a cousin of rapper Kendrick Lamar.

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Young's nickname is "Swaggy P", which he said is a pseudo-biblical reference to "the Prophet of Swag". Source.

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