David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 31

The Los Angeles Sparks believed they drafted a foundational player when they selected Cameron Brink with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. After four stellar seasons at Stanford, Brink developed into one of the WNBA’s top prospects. During her time at Stanford she received numerous honors, and now she can add […]

The Los Angeles Sparks return home to Crypto.com Arena following a three-game road trip during which they finished with a 1-3 record. The Sparks will face off against familiar Western Conference rival in the Minnesota Lynx, and it appears as if they’ll have reinforcements. Neither Lexie Brown nor Layshia Clarendon appeared on the Sparks injury […]

The California Golden Bears are in the midst of a retooling of their team. In the first year with new head coach Mark Madsen at the helm, the Bears finished with a record of 13-19 and only 9-11 in Pac-12 Conference play. But with the program set to move to the Atlantic Coast Conference for […]

The Connecticut Sun have been the top team in the WNBA this season with a perfect 9-0 record. They’re the only team in the league that has yet to lose a game. There’s probably not much to change about the Sun roster with a record like that, but the team felt the need to upgrade […]

There’s probably no player in the NBA right now that’s more polarizing than Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green. Green recently drew the ire of sports media host Skip Bayless who characterized Green as a dirty player. On a recent episode of Green’s podcast, ‘The Draymond Green Show,’ Green ripped into Bayless taking shots at […]

The Boston Celtics have reached the NBA Finals for the second time in the past three seasons. This year, the Celtics were powered by major offseason acquisitions in Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis. They received good news on the injury front as Porzingis is expected to be ready for Game 1. As the Celtics come […]

The NBA Draft is approaching and set to be held across two days this year from June 26-27. The first round is scheduled for the first day while the second round will take place the following day. As the NBA Draft draws near, one name that is gaining traction among NBA front offices is former […]

Behind superstar Luka Doncic, the Dallas Mavericks have reached the NBA Finals for only the third time in franchise history. Doncic has led the Mavericks as a No. 5 seed, beating three higher-seeded teams in the process without homecourt advantage. On a recent appearance on the Bully Ball Podcast hosted by Rachel Nichols and DeMarcus […]

The Los Angeles Clippers are heading into the 2024 offseason with a few big decisions to make. They recently came to an agreement on a contract extension with head coach Tyronn Lue, ensuring Lue is at the helm for the next five seasons. One of those big decisions coming up for the Clippers is the […]

The 2024 NBA Draft is scheduled across two days this year, with the first round taking place on June 26 and the second round taking place on June 27. The Los Angeles Lakers have the No. 17 and No. 55 overall picks in the NBA Draft, with the New Orleans Pelicans recently deferring the first […]

The Phoenix Suns came into the 2023-24 NBA season hoping to be championship contenders. They had added Kevin Durant at the 2023 NBA trade deadline and followed that up by aquiring Bradley Beal in a trade with the Washington Wizards in the offseason. But the Suns were swept in the first round of the playoffs […]

After making the playoffs a year ago, the Brooklyn Nets had a disappointing 2023-24 NBA season as they failed to qualify for the postseason. In 2023, the Nets seemed to be on the verge of becoming an exciting young team highlighted by the acquisitions of Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson. But now the Nets are […]

The Boston Celtics have reached the NBA Finals for the second time in the past three seasons. So far, they have not lost more than one game per playoff series. They dispatched the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers in five games each before sweeping the Indiana Pacers to come out of the Eastern Conference. A […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are coming off their second-best record in franchise history at 49 wins, and most since they rebranded themselves as the Pelicans. For the most part, they managed to stay healthy until the very end of the season when Zion Williamson went down during the team’s play-in game against the Los Angeles […]

The Los Angeles Sparks fell to 1-1 on their current three-game road trip following an 83-73 loss to the Chicago Sky. The Sparks were without head coach Curt Miller who missed the game due to his induction into the Mid-American Conference Hall of Fame due to his success at Bowling Green. Although the Sparks were […]

Caitlin Clark’s WNBA debut with the Indiana Fever hasn’t quite gone as expected. Or maybe it has depending on who you talk to. The Fever have not gotten off to a good start to the 2024 WNBA season. The Fever’s most recent loss, a 103-88 drubbing by the Seattle Storm, dropped them to 1-8 and […]

WNBA contracts work a little differently than NBA contracts. Only about five players on WNBA 12-woman rosters come into training camp with what is called a veteran-protected contract. The rest are on essentially non-guaranteed contracts and have to make a roster. Such was the situation Sparks guard Zia Cooke found herself in as she was […]

The Los Angeles Sparks visit the Chicago Sky on Wednesday as they continue their three-game road trip. They’re coming off a win against the Indiana Fever and looking to keep that momentum rolling. But if the Sparks are hoping to get a win, they’ll have to do so without head coach Curt Miller who is […]

Last season was a disappointing one for Bobby Hurley and the Arizona State Sun Devils. They finished the 2023-24 season with an overall record of 14-18 and 8-12 in Pac-12 Conference play. That’s now three of the last four seasons that the Sun Devils have failed to reach the NCAA Tournament.But help is on the […]

The Kansas Jayhawks had a disappointing 2023-24 season by their standards. For a program that has NCAA championship aspirations and making yearly tournament runs, they fell short of expectations. In terms of the positives though, Kansas got a solid freshman season from Johnny Furphy, solid enough that Furphy has decided to keep his name in […]

The Indiana Pacers are coming off one of their most successful seasons in recent history. After missing the playoffs for the past three seasons, the Pacers made a run to the Eastern Conference Finals albeit losing to the Boston Celtics in a 4-0 sweep. Heading into the offseason, the Pacers have a few key questions […]

After grabbing their first win of the season against the Washington Mystics last week, the Los Angeles Sparks have now lost consecutive games to bring their record to 1-5. Their most recent loss came on Sunday against the visiting Dallas Wings, 84-83. While the Sparks were unable to get a win, one of the major […]

The Los Angeles Sparks are looking to get back into the win column following their loss against the Indiana Fever on Friday. But for the Sparks to get a win against the visiting Dallas Wings, they’re going to have to do so without starting point guard Layshia Clarendon who was ruled out for the second […]

Caitlin Clark may be getting a ton of attention this season as she begins her rookie year in the WNBA with the Indiana Fever, but she’s not the only former Iowa Hawkeye making their professional debut. Caitlin Clark’s Iowa teammate Kate Martin was also drafted in the 2024 WNBA Draft by the Las Vegas Aces […]

The Chicago Sky had two first round picks in the 2024 WNBA Draft which they used to select Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese. Both players joined the Sky as highly decorated and hyped college stars with both having won national championships at South Carolina and LSU, respectively. Much of the attention surrounding the 2024 rookie […]

The Phoenix Mercury underwent quite a few changes leading up to the 2024 WNBA season. Perhaps the biggest change was new ownership in the form of Mat Ishbia. One of Ishbia’s first tasks was to hire a new head coach. Ishbia looked to the NBA ranks for the Mercury’s next head coach in Nate Tibbetts. […]

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Sparks get their first look at rookie sensation Caitlin Clark as the Indiana Fever are in town for their lone regular season visit to the city. The Fever come to town searching for their first win of the 2024 WNBA season as they have begun the year 0-5. There’s […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder are on the verge of becoming legitimate NBA championship contenders. With a core three of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, the Thunder have as promising a young trio as anyone in the NBA. But the Thunder still need a few tweaks to their roster, specifically in the frontcourt. The […]

The Los Angeles Sparks grabbed their first win of the 2024 WNBA season on Tuesday against the Washington Mystics in a game where both teams came into the meeting winless to that point. One of the key factors in the Sparks win was head coach Curt Miller’s decision to play Lexie Brown at point guard […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder took a huge leap this season as they finished with the No. 1 overall seed in the Western Conference and reached the second round of the NBA playoffs. Although they fell to the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Semifinals, they are not far off in terms of being a legitimate […]

The Los Angeles Sparks may have gotten off to an 0-2 start to the 2024 WNBA season, but one of the top positives from the early goings is the budding chemistry between Cameron Brink and Dearica Hamby. Hamby has moved back into a full-time starting power forward in her second season with the team while […]

The Chicago Bulls missed the playoffs for the sixth time in eight seasons and for the second consecutive time. The last time the Bulls made the playoffs was during the 2021-22 season when they lost in the first round to the Milwaukee Bucks. The coaching staff underwent a few changes in recent days as the […]

The Golden State Warriors had a disappointing 2023-24 NBA season. They barely squeaked into the postseason picture by making the play-in, only to lose to the Sacramento Kings and miss the playoffs for only the third team in the past 12 seasons. While the team will have to make a decision on Klay Thompson in […]

The 2024 NBA Draft is just about one month away and one team that has a major decision to make is the Houston Rockets. The Rockets used a little bit of draft lottery luck to move up to the No. 3 overall pick. That’s incredible fortune for a team that finished with a .500 record […]

Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets were written off after dropping the first two games of their Western Conference semifinal series of the NBA Playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves. But in true heart of a champion form, the Nuggets stormed back to take the lead in the series. But with the Wolves forcing a Game […]

Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark may not play for the Iowa Hawkeyes anymore, but she’ll always be a Hawkeye at heart. Playing college basketball, the bond players develop with their teammates sometimes lasts forever. Some players may go on to play professionally while others follow different career paths. Such is the case for Caitlin Clark […]

The Indiana Pacers advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday with a 130-109 win in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference Semifinals matchup against the New York Knicks. In doing so, they became the first team in this series to win a game on the road. The Knicks and Pacers have had legendary playoff […]

The Los Angeles Sparks are off to an 0-2 start after dropping their second game of the season on the road against the defending champion Las Vegas Aces, 89-82. While the Sparks have yet to get a win, there have been some encouraging signs for the team to start the 2024 season. One of the […]

The Los Angeles Sparks started the 2024 WNBA season with a 92-81 loss against the Atlanta Dream. It was technically the Sparks home opener but due to maintenance, the Sparks are playing their first two home games away from Crypto.com Arena and at the Walter Pyramid at Cal State Long Beach. It doesn’t get much […]