Two seasons after reaching the Eastern Conference Finals, the Atlanta Hawks have been struggling through a disappointing campaign despite the presence of two-time All-Star guard Trae Young.

On Saturday, they defeated the Indiana Pacers, 143-130, but Young got ejected after he aggressively tossed the ball at an official at one point.

Trae Young was ejected vs. the Pacers for throwing the ball at an official. pic.twitter.com/avGJYZ9UD4

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 25, 2023

Before getting tossed, Young had scored 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting while also dishing off five assists.

Some fans don’t seem to have a problem with Young getting ejected as a result of firing the ball at the referee.

I was at the game & saw it live. Luckily the ref caught the ball & it didn’t bounce off his dome. Trae really fired it in there.

— Commodore Schmidlapp (@ChrisNHarrelson) March 26, 2023

This fan feels like Young is starting to make a bad name for himself.

Trae is really writing his own villain script. He’s whining because he got called for foul hunting. Dude really plays the worst brand of basketball and throws a tantrum when he gets a call he doesn’t like.

— Injonito (@injonito) March 25, 2023

But these two fans don’t seem to think Young should’ve been ejected, and they instead blamed the referee who made the decision to toss him.

The refs feelings got hurt

— The Rally Mullet (@TheRallyMullet) March 26, 2023

Refs really have been toxic all year tbh

— Roger Salas (@Not_Javian) March 25, 2023

Last summer, the Hawks traded for guard Dejounte Murray, an emerging All-Star last season for the San Antonio Spurs, and therefore some felt they would be a dark horse team in the Eastern Conference.

Instead, they currently hold a 37-37 record and are in eighth place in the East.

Young is averaging 26.8 points and 10.0 assists per game, but he is shooting just 43.3 percent overall and 34.1 percent from 3-point range.

Some have criticized him for attempting to play like Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry, even though he greatly lacks Curry’s outside marksmanship.

However, Atlanta’s real problem is on the defensive end, where it ranks just 22nd in defensive rating.

The 130 points and 54.2 percent field-goal shooting it gave up to the Pacers, a mediocre offensive team, on Saturday is indicative of its struggles on defense.

The post NBA Fans React To Trae Young Throwing Ball At Official appeared first on The Cold Wire.

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Parker Meadows hit a three-run homer in the top of the third inning and the Detroit Tigers coasted to a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in a spring training game on Saturday at TD Ballpark.

The Tigers (13-16) scored all four of their runs in the third, thanks to a Blue Jays’ throwing error and inexperienced pitching.

Ryan Kreidler of the Tigers reached first in the third inning on a throwing error by Jays’ third baseman Max Chapman. Zack Short was then hit by a Sem Robberse pitch.

Jake Rogers then doubled, scoring Kreidler and moving Short to third. And then with two runners on base Meadows hit a home run to make it 4-0.

The 21-year-old Robberse, from Zeist, Netherlands, finished up with one walk and one strikeout, allowing three hits and four runs in three innings of work.

The Jays (16-12) scored their lone run in the bottom of the eighth as Otto Lopez drew a bases-loaded walk with two out.

The Tigers outhit the Jays 8-3.

The Blue Jays will play the New York Yankees on Sunday.

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The Philadelphia Eagles have lost one of their former stars.

On Saturday, it was announced that former Eagles linebacker Frank LeMaster had passed away.

He was only 71 years of age.

The Eagles are saddened to learn of the passing of Frank LeMaster.

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) March 25, 2023

LeMaster played nine seasons in the NFL from 1974 to 1982, all of them coming with Philly, and he became a franchise cornerstone as it started to build a contender.

He was a fourth-round draft pick in 1974 after playing his college ball at the University of Kentucky, and at first, he wasn’t much better than your average NFL linebacker.

At the time, the Eagles had been grounded for years, as they hadn’t made the playoffs since winning the league championship in 1960, well before the AFL-NFL merger.

But shortly after LeMaster came to town, the team hired head coach Dick Vermeil, and he would help transform it into a winner while helping him become the best version of himself.

Philly reached a zenith in 1980 when it finished 12-4 and knocked off its NFC East rivals, the high and mighty Dallas Cowboys, in the conference championship game to reach the Super Bowl.

There, it would fall by a wide margin to the Oakland Raiders.

The following season, LeMaster would record two interceptions and two fumble recoveries, one of which he ran back for a touchdown, as he was named to his first and only Pro Bowl.

After his retirement, he continued to live in the Delaware Valley area, raising his three children while rising through the ranks to become the vice president of sales for a leading artificial turf company.

The post A Former Eagles Linebacker Has Passed Away appeared first on The Cold Wire.

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