David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 15

When it comes to NBA merchandise and player popularity, everything from jerseys to training cards to shoes play a big role in fan consumption. Two of the NBA’s most popular players of all-time are Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, so it stands to reason that their merchandise will fetch top dollar on the market. Such […]

The Toronto Raptors are in the midst of a rebuilding season, which in NBA teams, is code name for ‘tanking.’ While the team recently traded for a new star in Brandon Ingram, it’s a move that seems more for next season as Ingram is sidelined with an ankle injury. Raptors center Jakob Poeltl has openly […]

In the aftermath of the NBA trade deadline, the Los Angeles Lakers have climbed up the Western Conference standings with their new star duo of LeBron James and Luka Doncic. Since the Doncic trade, the Lakers have gone 11-2 and currently hold the No. 2 seed in the West. The Lakers’ rise in the standings […]

The Toronto Raptors are one of the teams in the running for a top lottery pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. They are currently 20-42 and have the fifth worst record in the NBA. Depending on how the rest of the season goes, the Raptors might need a little lottery luck if they want the […]

March is here and with it are college basketball conference tournaments across the country. The Big Ten women’s basketball tournament tipped-off this week, and the Iowa Hawkeyes, the reigning tournament champions, advanced to the second round with an 81-57 win over Wisconsin. During Iowa’s round game of the Big Ten Tournament, they had a familiar […]

Coming into the 2024-25 NCAA season, the Stanford Cardinal had the second-longest NCAA Tournament appearance streak behind only Tennessee, as per Alexa Philippou of ESPN. But following the retirement of legendary head coach Tara VanDerveer, Stanford’s NCAA Tournament streak is in danger. Following the Cardinal 63-46 loss to Clemson in the first round of the […]

The Los Angeles Lakers have been one of the hottest teams in the NBA as of late, having won seven consecutive games. With Luka Doncic finding his shot and his rhythm, the Lakers have shot up to the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. The Lakers have another big game on Thursday against the […]

With the final stretch of the regular season in progress, the Boston Celtics are looking to defend their NBA title. Coming into the team’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday, the Celtics were without star wing Jayson Tatum due to a shoulder injury. But no Tatum, no problem as the Celtics made franchise […]

The Toronto Raptors made a major midseason move with the acquisition of Brandon Ingram at the NBA trade deadline. Ingram has yet to play for the Raptors though, and it’s more a move for next season. The rest of this season for the Raptors should be about evaluating younger prospects. The Raptors made a series […]

The New York Knicks came into the 2024-25 season hoping to be a contender in the Eastern Conference following the blockbuster trade for Karl-Anthony Towns. While the Knicks have been a top team in the East, they just don’t seem to be quite on the level of the Cleveland Cavaliers or Boston Celtics. The Celtics […]

LOS ANGELES – Since the offseason, it’s been no secret that the Los Angeles Lakers were searching for a starting caliber center, even when Anthony Davis was still on the team. Before the blockbuster trade, Davis made it clear that he wanted a center alongside him in the lineup. But with the arrival of Luka […]

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers were hit with bad news over the weekend when it was revealed that Austin Reaves had suffered a calf injury. While Austin Reaves’ injury is considered day-to-day, it kept him sidelined for the Lakers’ 108-102 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday and will keep him out […]

The South Carolina Gamecocks will earn the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament over Texas due to a coin flip. A coin flip was necessary to determine the top seed in the SEC Tournament due to both South Carolina and Texas finishing with identical 15-1 records in the SEC play. The head-to-head record between […]

The New Orleans Pelicans’ 2024-25 season has been derailed due to injuries, with both Herb Jones and Dejounte Murray out for the season. The Pelicans moved closer to perhaps embracing a rebuild by trading Brandon Ingram to the Toronto Raptors at the trade deadline. The Pelicans continued to shape their post-trade deadline roster with the […]

The Utah Jazz are in the midst of rebuild, and this time of the NBA season is when rebuilding teams often scour the buyout market and the waiver wire for intriguing young prospects. The Jazz added to their roster signing former first round pick Jaden Springer to a 1o-day contract last month. With his 10-day […]

With the St. John’s 71-61 win over Seton Hall on Saturday, the Red Storm clinched their first outright Big East Conference regular season title win, and their first under head coach Rick Pitino. Following St. John’s Big East title-clinching win, Rick Pitino spoke with Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports on how this moment came to […]

It’s been a tough end to the week for Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards, who was hit with a fine by the NBA on Saturday. That followed his ejection from the Timberwolves’ loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday which resulted in an automatic suspension for Anthony Edwards. Anthony Edwards had picked up his […]

Looking at the last 15 games, the Los Angeles Lakers have held the NBA’s second-best defensive rating behind only the Cleveland Cavaliers, as per the league’s official website. The Lakers have gone 12-3 during the stretch, with LeBron James being a driving catalyst behind the team’s defense. The Lakers’ 106-102 win over the Los Angeles […]

This time of the season is a good time for NBA teams to give players roster tryouts by way of a 10-day contract. Sometimes it’s temporary help for the final stretch of the season, other times it’s to evaluate prospects. Teams like the Charlotte Hornets, used a 10-day contract to help with injuries. Following the […]

The Los Angeles Lakers squared off against their crosstown rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, and while the game was still in progress, the Lakers ended up a little more short-handed than before. Lakers starting guard Austin Reaves was ruled out for the remainder of the game against the Clippers due to a calf […]

The Illinois Fighting Illini are fighting for their lives for a possible NCAA Tournament bid, although it’s looking increasingly unlikely barring an unforeseen run through the Big Ten Tournament. Illinois has two games remaining before the conference tournament, and head coach Brad Underwood believes they’ll be getting reinforcements soon. Underwood said that freshman forward Morez […]

It’s no secret that Dallas Mavericks fans are incredibly upset at the blockbuster trade that sent franchise star Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. In the immediate aftermath of the trade, Mavericks fans staged a protest outside of the arena. One fan was escorted out of the arena for seemingly mouthing the words, ‘Fire […]

During the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 111-102 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, All-Star guard Anthony Edwards was ejected after picking up two technical fouls. The second technical foul was Anthony Edwards’ 16th of the season, meaning an automatic suspension was forthcoming unless the NBA decided to rescind one of the technical fouls. Well, the […]

The San Antonio Spurs suffered a massive blow following the All-Star break when it was revealed that Victor Wembanyama would be sidelined for the reminder of the season due to a blood clot. Wembayama’s absence left the Spurs with a hole in the frontcourt which they filled by signing veteran big man Bismack Biyombo. With […]

The announcement that many WNBA fans had been waiting for, finally arrived this week when Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurasi announced her retirement. Throughout the week, Taurasi’s WNBA peers and NBA players alike have been reflecting on her career. One of the latest NBA players to reflect on Diana Taurasi’s retirement was Dallas Mavericks star […]

The Charlotte Hornets have been hit with major injury woes this season. During their last game against the Dallas Mavericks, seven players were sidelined due to injury including star guard LaMelo Ball. Ball has been dealing with an ankle injury this season. Amid the rising number of injuries, the Hornets made a recent roster move […]

When it comes to the NBA’s All-Time scoring list, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is the far and away leader with over 40,000 career points. He’s the only NBA player to reach that mark, and is a surefire Hall of Famer when he retires. But there are other prolific scoring threats still currently in […]

It was the night of Oct. 11 and social media lit up with posts from Los Angeles Lakers fans. Undrafted guard Quincy Olivari had just led the Lakers to a comeback win against the Milwaukee Bucks in preseason. Against all odds, Quincy Olivari used that performance to secure a two-way contract from the organization, ensuring […]

It’s been a so-so 2024-25 NCAA season for the Kansas Jayhawks. Although they hold a 19-9 overall record, they are only 10-7 in Big 12 Conference play. They are probably a team currently on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament, and amid this season, rumors have circulated regarding longtime Kansas head coach Bill Self’s possible […]

The Duke Blue Devils have been one of the top teams in college basketball this season, and they came in, in the current AP men’s basketball poll ranked No. 2 behind only Auburn. But during Duke’s win over Miami this past weekend, starting point guard Tyrese Proctor went down with a knee injury. Following the […]

LOS ANGELES – While the Luka Doncic blockbuster trade has certainly dominated recent headlines for the Los Angeles Lakers, almost lost in the shuffle has been how stifling the Lakers’ defense has been. And at the forefront of the Lakers’ defense is none other than LeBron James, the oldest player in the NBA. In fact, […]

The Charlotte Hornets have an All-Star caliber guard in LaMelo Ball, who was among the top vote getters by fans for the All-Star Game. The one issue the Hornets seem to have though is keeping LaMelo Ball injury free. Ball was recently ruled out for the Hornets’ game against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday […]

It’s been just under one month since the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers pulled off the blockbuster trade involving a Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis swap. Tuesday marks the first meeting between the Lakers and Mavericks since the trade took place. While Anthony Davis will not play against the Lakers due to injury, a clip of […]

To say the Philadelphia 76ers’ 2024-25 season has been disappointing is a massive understatement. The season has been downright horrendous for a team that was supposed to be an Eastern Conference contender following their free agency acquisition of Paul George. The 76ers have been filling in their on-the-margins roster spots since the trade deadline, and […]

The increasing popularity of social media has certainly changed the way that fans and professional athletes interact with one another. One player who is no stranger to social media is Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant. Morant received a 25-game suspension for allegedly flashing a gun while on an Instagram Live feed. Morant recently deactivated his […]

The Sacramento Kings had a busy NBA trade deadline, trading for Zach LaVine from the Chicago Bulls while trading De’Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs in a three-team trade. The Kings have gone 4-4 since acquiring LaVine, but had their best win of that stretch on Monday against the Charlotte Hornets. Zach LaVine made […]

While the Minnesota Timberwolves currently have a winning record at 31-26, and have rebounded slightly from an uneven start to the 2024-25 season, they still aren’t at the level of last year’s squad that made it to the Western Conference Finals. After the shocking trade of Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks, the Timberwolves […]

In basketball, whether it’s college or professional, sometimes a simple change of scenery is all a player needs to regain dominant form. That appears to be the case this year for TCU guard Hailey Van Lith. Following TCU’s 71-50 win against West Virginia on Sunday, Horned Frogs head coach Mark Campbell acknowledged that Hailey Van […]

During the Golden State Warriors game against the Charlotte Hornets this coming week, the Warriors will honor the 2015 championship team. On Sunday during the Warriors’ game against the Dallas Mavericks, they honored a specific member of that team with Andre Iguodala’s jersey retirement ceremony. A fitting honor for the 2015 Finals MVP. During Andre […]