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Español'Thank you, Golden State Warriors': Hawks legend echoes fans after huge trade
'Thank you, Golden State Warriors': Hawks legend echoes fans after huge trade originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Dominique Wilkins couldn't hold back.
Jonathan Kuminga had just thrown down a left-handed hammer slam dunk that surely made 'Nique proud, and he just had to let the whole basketball world, especially the Golden State Warriors, know about it.
Wilkins is the color commentator for Hawks broadcasts, and when Kuminga threw down his post, Wilkins went for it.
"Thank you, Golden State Warriors," Wilkins said.
It's the same thing Hawks fans were saying, and even have been chanting, lately.
Kuminga has played just three games with Atlanta. He already looks like a star after his trade from the Warriors.
Golden State never figured out how to use Kuminga.
Atlanta has simply let Kuminga be himself, and it's working wonderfully.
Dominique Wilkins qui trolle les Warriors pour le trade de Kuminga en play-by-play, c'est si doux ! pic.twitter.com/OR77TkdNbm
— Hawks Fans France 🇫🇷 (@ATLHawksFR) March 2, 2026
MORE: Rip Hamilton's son is committed to play D-I college basketball
Kuminga dropped 20 points on Sunday night, including that poster slam.
In his first game with Atlanta, he scored 27 points in just 24 minutes (9-12 FG, 3-4 3FG, 6-7 FT) while grabbing seven rebounds, dishing out four assists and snatching two steals.
In the second, Kuminga had 17 points, nine rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block.
Kuminga isn't just scoring. He's been empowered to play his game, which actually is more well-rounded than he displayed with Golden State.
The Warriors may end up regretting this one.
More NBA news:
MLB News Updates, March 2: Andrew Painter makes 2026 debut, and more from spring training to note for fantasy baseball
Every week, we will update fantasy baseball managers with all the MLB news they may have missed as we make our way through spring training and get closer to Opening Day.
[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league for the 2026 MLB season]
Andrew Painter has brief, quiet outing in 2026 spring training debut
It seems like forever that fantasy baseball managers have been waiting for Andrew Painter to make noise in the majors. After all, three years ago, the then-19-year-old made his spring training debut, only to find himself undergoing Tommy John surgery, ending any hopes of an expedited career in MLB.
But Painter, MLB’s 28th-ranked prospect and long considered one of the Phillies’ best prospects overall, is healthy now and ready to make his mark in Philadelphia’s rotation this season.
Painter made his 2026 spring training debut against the Yankees on March 1. He pitched two scoreless innings and collected one strikeout, to Jasson Domínguez (another former highly-touted prospect who’s already gotten a lot of MLB action).
Painter will likely be eased along, but it seems like a given that he’ll get a chance to stick in the Phillies’ rotation to start the season. He’s currently carrying a 205 ADP in Yahoo leagues; that won’t last.
Stanton makes startling injury claim
In what ended up being one of the more bizarre-sounding news stories of the past few days, Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton claimed that the pain in his elbows is so bad that he “can’t open bottles, can’t open a bag of chips.”
As someone who has opened a lot of bags of chips in his day, that is a wild statement. Injuries, of course, are no strangers to Stanton — the last time he played more than 140 games was in 2018.
Highlights of Stanton running have been making the rounds on social media; that’s a low bar. But nonetheless, Stanton has remained one of the most feared, powerful hitters in baseball, despite his litany of injury woes. Last season was even a resurgence for him, posting a .944 OPS in 77 games (after returning from, yes, an injury) while hitting 24 home runs. Stanton currently has an ADP of 193, but this elbow news will probably lower that even further. At that point in drafts, you could do worse than taking a chance on someone who has 40+ homer upside.
Baseball’s No. 1 prospect makes his presence felt
The Pittsburgh Pirates are not a good team, but that doesn’t mean they don’t offer reasons for excitement. Oneil Cruz is an exciting hitter with a yet-untapped ceiling, Paul Skenes is already one of the five best starting pitchers in baseball and Bubba Chandler could reach that position at some point.
And there’s a chance another one of Pittsburgh’s prospects could take the field in the majors this season — and he might be the best of the bunch.
Konnor Griffin — who will turn a mere 20 years old when the season reaches its one-month mark — has already made waves across social media with his first spring training homers:
No. 1 Prospect Konnor Griffin hits his first #SpringTraining home run! 💪 pic.twitter.com/YllOJIHZLw
— MLB (@MLB) February 24, 2026
Not only did he launch that blast against Boston’s prized free-agent pickup, Ranger Suárez, but Griffin would go on and hit a second home run later in the game. Then, he hit a third spring training homer on March 1. At 6-foot-4 and 222 pounds, Griffin is the Pirates’ top prospect — and the top prospect in baseball overall.
But again, Griffin is just 19 years old at the time of this writing. He’s only played in A-A+-AA (in which he made mincemeat of opposing pitching to the tune of a .333/.415/.527 slash line with a .941 OPS) in the minors. The chances of him making the big league roster before the summer — much less right out of spring training — are not high. And we know Pittsburgh isn’t exactly the place where prospects get rushed, no matter how good they are.
Griffin has a Yahoo ADP of 195.6 — apt for someone who is just a hopeful bench stash right now; Yahoo managers aren’t too hyped yet. But if he continues the highlight reel and fan pressure continues to build, the Pirates’ hand may be forced at some point in May or June. He’s a must-watch player during spring training.
Lindor on track for Opening Day; Carroll aiming for the same
Mets SS Francisco Lindor was one of a group of high-profile players who announced a need for surgery after injury to the hamate bone; for him, the surgery was performed on his left hand.
No one wants to hear about a star player needing surgery right before spring training, but thankfully, Lindor recently had his stitches removed and is reportedly still on track to start for the Mets on Opening Day.
Lindor is currently just on the cusp of being a second-round pick in Yahoo Fantasy leagues. If he falls to the third round, he’s a snap-selection, especially when you consider he’s gone nearly 30-30 (he stole 29 bases in 2024) for three straight seasons.
Diamondbacks OF Corbin Carroll (who currently holds a Yahoo ADP of 16.6) had surgery on Feb. 11 on his right hamate bone, and as he continues his rehab, he has stated that he’s “pushing” to be ready for Opening Day against the Dodgers on March 26.
At just 25 years old, we likely still haven’t seen Carroll’s best season; he has a .258/.341/.491 slash line with an .832 OPS in his career. His ADP could shoot up if his timeline does the same during spring training.
Hope for a resurgent Mike Trout season?
Once considered the clear best player in baseball, it’s been a rough couple of seasons for Mike Trout on the injury front. Trout last played more than 130 games in 2019 (134). He played just 29 and 82 games in 2024 and 2023, respectively. He did play 130 games in 2025, but the results were pretty subpar, by his standards: .232/.359/.439 with a .797 OPS, 26 home runs and just two stolen bases.
But maybe there’s a chance things turn around this season. On Saturday, Trout flew down the line in an attempt to beat out an infield single versus the D-backs. He was recorded as reaching a sprint speed of 29.9 feet per second — his highest sprint speed since a meniscus tear in 2024. Trout himself revealed that his goal for this season is 30 feet per second.
Now, this is not to say that Trout will suddenly return to his glory days of stealing 30+ bases, but a return to elite speed would certainly help in that regard. At the very least, a healthy Trout will undoubtedly steal more than the measly two bags he’s averaged the last six seasons.
For context, Trea Turner had the highest sprint speed in the league in 2025 at 30.3 feet per second, per Statcast. Trout was down at 223 with 27.9 feet per second.
Trout is coming off the board as OF58 in Yahoo leagues, a far cry from his previous elite years. Two years removed from his meniscus tear and with an eye on redemption, Trout could end up being a draft-day steal.
Yankee youth shining early in spring training
The Yankees aren’t exactly the Pirates in terms of exciting prospects, but they do have some young players who have been turning heads so far in exhibition play.
George Lombard Jr., baseball’s 32nd-ranked prospect, has been making defensive highlight after defensive highlight so far in spring training, and the Yankees expect his bat to catch up with his glove. Defense can get players onto the field sooner than later; Lombard’s ascension is one to watch.
Carlos Lagrange is another of New York’s top prospects, a potentially front-line starter with triple-digit stuff. His arm is already making waves on social media. In Double-A last season, Lagrange put together a 7-6 record with a 3.22 ERA and 104 strikeouts in 78.1 innings pitched. At 22 years old, Lagrange has the chance to not only begin the season in Triple-A, but could see himself in the big-league club sooner rather than later, whether as a starter or in the bullpen.
Finally, we have Ryan Weathers, the Yankees’ offseason trade acquisition from the Marlins. At just 26 years old, Weathers hasn’t even reached his prime yet; once upon a time, Weathers was a Padres first-round pick. He flamed out with San Diego, but delivered moments of promise with the Marlins. The Yankees traded for that promise, and it may have already shown itself in spring training:
Ryan Weathers with a 99.8 MPH strikeout. He has never thrown a pitch that fast in his MLB career pic.twitter.com/0gN2GGUdB5
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) February 25, 2026
Weathers ended his exhibition outing with the following line: 3.2 IP, 1 H, 5 K, 0 BB. Not bad for a debut. He currently holds a Yahoo ADP of 207.6; expect that to rise in the coming weeks, barring injury or a blow-up outing, as Weathers is projected to be the Yankees’ third or fourth starter to open the season.
State of the Position, 2026: Ownership
It’s a long-standing feature of this article to point out previous iterations of this article. When I wrote my first one eight years ago (holy crap, I’m getting old), the Rockies were trending in the right direction, and the ownership got precious little credit for it. So I wrote a string of articles focused on countering the narrative that the Monforts (“Cheapfarts”) didn’t want to spend to win, preferring to turn Coors Field into the best bar in LoDo. I stand by those takes at the time.
Since then, an altogether different narrative has emerged: The Monforts were the baseball equivalent of the golden retriever wearing a necktie sitting at a computer. Sure, they demonstrated a willingness to spend their money on the roster, but after a Super Bullpen, the Ian Desmond Experiment, and especially the Kris Bryant Experience, it cannot be said that they had any idea what they were doing. Had the failures only been with the top-level signings while everything further down the roster functioned, we might be able to find a way to extend ample credit. Unfortunately, the “draft and develop” identity of roster construction has consistently failed to identify and develop MLB-level talent. The Rockies were increasingly viewed as a team stuck in the past, unable or unwilling to change. This was not only a narrative I had evidence with which to counter, but I believe these previews played a part in reinforcing it.
That was the main theme of last year’s article, even with looming labor unrest between players and owners after the expiration of the 2026 collective bargaining agreement. While I did and do support MLB making structural changes (I wrote an only half-joking article last October titled “Contract the Dodgers”), my point then was that those changes would have no bearing on the Rockies because the team’s struggles ran deeper. At their core, the Rockies were dinosaurs stuck in the La Brea Tar Pits, with (most of) the rest of the league having evolved with the changing conditions of the game. And the reason they were stuck in those pits was because of loyalty, inability, or a tragic mix of both. (Stop picturing Dinger in tar pits! He’s a national treasure, you monster!)
So what should it tell us when a team that could never change actually changes? Yes, they have made changes before, but this time seems different somehow. This time, something at the core seems to have changed. My colleagues will address the front office and coaching staffs in the coming days, and there is a lot of evidence of structural change in those areas beyond mere swapping of personnel. But the changes manifesting at those levels start at the top. After three 100+ loss seasons, including a puncher’s chance at the modern loss record, the Monforts seem to have finally understood that the thing to do when you hit rock bottom is stop digging—you’re more likely to find tar at the bottom of that pit than oil.
Obviously it’s too soon to tell: the team could improve by 19 games and still lose 100 again. But for those of us still left who care about the Rockies (and if you’re reading this article after the last four seasons, that includes you—and I just have to ask, who hurt you?), we may need to consider the possibility of hope. Yes, I know: it’s the hope that kills you. But we’ve been as good as dead with regard to hope for a long time with this team. And the way this offseason played out indicates that there is certainly something different happening. It remains to be seen whether or not “different” translates into improvement, and even if it does it may be a long time before we actually see results. After all, in sports as in life, nothing is guaranteed; there are only ever a small number of things in your control.
We may as well allow ourselves a little glimmer that we could be looking at the beginning of something…not big maybe, but at least not terrible. We should allow ourselves to hope, not only for the sake of our interactions with a (previously?) moribund baseball franchise in a cow town at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, but for the sake of what it may signal about our own lives.
After all, if Rockies ownership can change, who’s to say you, me, we, or they can’t change, too?
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Spurs given suspended ticket ban for Nazi salutes
Uefa has fined Tottenham Hotspur and given them a suspended ban from selling away tickets after three supporters made Nazi salutes towards Eintracht Frankfurt fans.
The incident occurred during their Champions League fixture - which Spurs won 2-0 - at the German club's Deutsche Bank Park on 28 January.
Uefa said it issued the ban for "the racist and/or discriminatory behaviour of its supporters" and it was "suspended for a probationary period of one year".
Tottenham were fined £26,000 (30,000 euros) by European football's governing body in addition to £1,966 (2,250 euros) for objects thrown by their supporters.
Spurs said the "conduct of a small number of fans" was "utterly abhorrent" and have issued them with banning orders.
"We can confirm that all three individuals found to be making Nazi salutes towards Eintracht Frankfurt fans have been identified and have received indefinite bans under the club's sanctions and banning policy," said Spurs.
"The club stands firmly against all forms of discrimination and has therefore taken the strongest possible action. The disgusting behaviour of a minority of so-called fans on the night is in no way reflective of the values of our club and its supporters."
Last week, Real Madrid launched an investigation after a supporter allegedly performed a Nazi salute before the club's Champions League win against Benfica.
Spurs given suspended ticket ban over fans' Nazi salutes in Germany
Uefa fine Tottenham Hotspur and give them a suspended ban from selling away tickets after three supporters made Nazi salutes towards Eintracht Frankfurt fans.