David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 39

Over the past several seasons, Celtics star Jayson Tatum has taken his place as one of the elite players in the NBA. With all of his success though, Tatum has yet to win a regular season MVP award or an NBA championship. The Celtics reached the Finals in 2022 but were dispatched by the Golden […]

The Indiana Pacers are well represented at NBA All-Star Weekend as the host team. The Pacers Skills Challenge team comprised of Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin and Myles Turner won the event and Haliburton competed in the 3-point contest. Tyrese Haliburton is set to participate in the main event on Sunday for his second NBA All-Star […]

Prior to the start of the 2024 NBA All-Star game, Shaquille O’Neal had a little advice for hometown hero, Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton. Tyrese Haliburton had a good start to NBA All-Star Weekend taking home a Skills Challenge win with the Pacers contingent and then participating in the three point contest. As the only […]

The NBA trade deadline has come and gone and one player who should have been able to sleep peacefully is Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner. For the past several seasons, Turner has constantly heard his name in trade rumors but after signing an extension with the Pacers last season, he’s seemingly off the trade block. […]

This year’s NBA All-Star Weekend featured a one of a kind, first ever 3-point showdown between an NBA and a WNBA player. Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry is arguably the best shooter in NBA history and New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu is on her way down a similar path. It was a close […]

Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard came into NBA All-Star Weekend as the defending champion of the 3-point contest. Lillard has always been one a good three point shooter throughout his career with a career average of 37 percent shooting from the three point line. Lillard was able to defend his crown, winning back to back […]

This year, NBA All-Star Weekend is set to feature a one of a kind, first ever event, a three-point shootout between Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry of the NBA and New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu of the WNBA. Ionescu is the reigning WNBA three-point contest champion while Curry has won the NBA event […]

During NBA All-Star Weekend, Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards participated in the Skills Challenge as the No. 1 draft pick team alongside Orlando Magic star Paolo Banchero and San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama. The team was eliminated from the first round of the event during the relay portion. A big reason for that was […]

Despite the San Antonio Spurs’ poor record this season, rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama has been taking the league by storm. He’s become must-see TV with his highlight reel plays. It was not surprising that at NBA All-Star Weekend, Wembanyama was the talk of the weekend with various NBA All-Stars chiming in with their thoughts on […]

The Charlotte Hornets made one of the biggest feel good trades of the NBA Trade Deadline when they brought in Seth Curry from the Dallas Mavericks. It’s significant in the sense that his father Dell Curry spent a big part of his own NBA career playing for the Hornets. During NBA All-Star Weekend, Seth’s brother, […]

The Milwaukee Bucks made a key move at the NBA Trade Deadline to help bolster their roster for a playoff push by bringing in veteran point guard Patrick Beverley in a trade with the Philadelphia 76ers. Beverley is reunited with head coach Doc Rivers whom he played for during his time with the Los Angeles […]

The Minnesota Lynx are hoping to get back to their glory days when they were a perennial WNBA championship contender. They have a solid foundation with a new franchise player in Napheesa Collier and a promising young player in Diamond Miller. Adding solid rotation pieces is the next step for the team. The Lynx made […]

The Connecticut Sun had a strong 2024 offseason. For a team looking to win a championship, they re-signed two of their key players in DeWanna Bonner and Brionna Jones. They also pulled off a trade for a solid point guard in Moriah Jefferson and added a key veteran in Astou Ndour-Fall. The Sun made another […]

One of the major questions facing the UConn Huskies this season was whether or not star point guard Paige Bueckers would enter the WNBA Draft or opt to return for a fifth season of college eligibility. That question was answered on senior night at UConn as Bueckers announced to the home crowd that she would […]

The New Orleans Pelicans have consistently been in the playoff picture this season. The team is healthy and in the race for a top six finish in the Western Conference and thus avoiding the play-in tournament. Following NBA All-Star Weekend, there will be less than half of the season remaining with teams looking to make […]

The dunk contest is always one of the major draws at NBA All-Star Weekend. Last season, the NBA made history at the event when Mac McClung became the first G League player to be invited to participate. At the time of the contest though he had signed a contract with the Philadelphia 76ers. McClung will […]

Growing up, Detroit Pistons guard Jaden Ivey was around quite a few big name WNBA players. His mother, Niele Ivey, played five seasons in the WNBA for the Phoenix Mercury, Indiana Fever and Detroit Shock. Ivey was born in 2002 when his mother was in the middle of her WNBA career. One of those players […]

The Dallas Mavericks are well-represented at NBA All-Star Weekend. The Mavs have Luka Doncic playing in Sunday’s big game and rookie Dereck Lively II making an appearance in the Rising Stars game. The Rising Stars is the first major event of NBA All-Star Weekend, and during practice on Friday, players on the team attempted to […]

The Tennessee Volunteers had a big game on Thursday against the No. 1 team in the country in undefeated South Carolina. Tennessee hasn’t been bad, they’re 15-9 overall and 8-4 in SEC play. They managed to hang tough against South Carolina before falling, 66-55. Despite the loss, Tennessee got strong play once again from Rickea […]

The Miami Heat have gained a reputation across the NBA for having one of the top scouting staffs in the league. Last season during their miraculous run to the NBA Finals, they had a total of five undrafted players playing regular rotation minutes in Caleb Martin, Duncan Robinson, Gabe Vincent, Max Strus and Haywood Highsmith. […]

The Indiana Pacers pulled off one of the biggest moves of the trade season when they acquired All-Star forward Pascal Siakam from the Toronto Raptors. The Pacers haven’t quite shot up in the Eastern Conference standings though following the trade as some might have expected. The Pacers are only 5-5 in their last ten games […]

There was much anticipation building up to this, and Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark finally became the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer for women’s basketball. She was a mere eight points away from breaking Kelsey Plum’s record coming into Iowa’s game against Michigan on Thursday. She broke the record in true Caitlin Clark fashion, pulling up […]

Right now, the New York Knicks have three players who played together in college at Villanova. Those three players are Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart. They had a fourth member in Ryan Arcidiacono but he was traded to the Detroit Pistons at the NBA trade deadline and subsequently released. If Josh Hart had […]

NBA All-Star Weekend is here and one of the kickoff events is the annual Rising Stars Challenge. The event features some of the top rookies and second-year players as well as a few G League standouts. It’s been reorganized in recent years to a tournament format with four teams battling for a spot in the […]

The Orlando Magic have been one of the surprise teams of this NBA season with a complete about face from previous years. They’re currently in the postseason picture in the Eastern Conference standings. A big reason for the Magic turnaround has been the elite level of play from Paolo Banchero. The Magic grabbed a big […]

The Ohio State Buckeyes have gotten off to a disappointing start to this NCAA season. Although they are 14-11 overall, they’ve struggled in Big 10 Conference play, managing only a 4-10 record. As a result, Ohio State made the decision to fire longtime head coach Chris Holtmann. The firing came after the Buckeyes most recent […]

The Phoenix Suns have been playing much better since their early poor start to the season. A big reason for that was due to injuries and the team has since gotten healthy, especially Bradley Beal. The Suns had a game agains the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday on suddenly found themselves shorthanded as Devin Booker was […]

The Brooklyn Nets could have had a Hall of Fame player suit up for them during the 2010-2011 NBA season. That was when Carmelo Anthony let it be known that he wanted a trade from the Denver Nuggets. The former Nuggets star was recently in the headlines regarding his old team due the Nikola Jokic […]

The Golden State Warriors started off this season in disappointing fashion and had been floundering near the bottom of the Western Conference standings. They’ve seemingly turned things around having won seven of their last ten games and five in a row. The Warriors have been without Chris Paul though during this recent stretch. Chris Paul […]

The Golden State Warriors have been playing much better basketball as of late and have put themselves in position to reach the play-in tournament. The Warriors have seemingly turned around what was a poor start to the season and was overshadowed by Draymond Green’s on the court antics. But despite Green’s suspensions that have threatened […]

As part of the NBA’s new CBA, the league instituted a threshold for players to be eligible for postseason awards including All-NBA teams and All-Defensive teams. That threshold is 65 games with the exception being a season-ending injury. The new policy has already had vocal critics including Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton. Haliburton has been […]

The Boston Celtics are largely considered the favorite to win the NBA title this season among fans and media alike. They’ve consistently been the best team in the league on the court and currently hold the best record in the NBA as well. A big part of the Celtics success this season has been the […]

The Toronto Raptors were one of the most active teams at the NBA trade deadline. They even kicked off the trade season with the OG Anunoby trade in late December. One of the teams who served as a trade partner with the Raptors was the Utah Jazz. The Jazz acquired Kira Lewis Jr. and Otto […]

The Boston Celtics have been by far and away the best team in the NBA this season. They currently hold the best record in the NBA at 41-12. While they were eliminated by the No. 8 seeded Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, the Celtics are considered one of the favorites to […]

The North Carolina Tar Heels had been one of the top teams in college basketball this season. They had been coming off a huge against rival Duke just a little over two weekends ago before falling in an upset loss to Clemson just this past week. North Carolina had regrouped against Miami this past weekend […]

The Atlanta Hawks have been a team that’s played inconsistently this season. They’re on the borderline of fighting for a play-in spot and missing the postseason all together. They are below .500 although they have gone 6-4 in their last ten games. The Hawks got positive news on Tuesday, however when it was announced that […]

The New York Knicks are coming off a brutal ending to their game against the Houston Rockets on Monday. Not only was Jalen Brunson called for an extremely questionable foul that resulted in a loss, but the officiating crew admitted their error following the game. The Knicks have in turn filed a protest with the […]

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been one of the most impressive teams in the NBA following the new year. Since Jan. 1, the Cavs have posted a record of 17-3. They’ve managed to climb all the way up to the second seed in the Eastern Conference standings behind only the Boston Celtics. One key player for […]

The Dallas Wings are looking to build on what was a fairly successful 2023 season. The Wings made a huge move in that regard even before the WNBA Free Agency period when they re-signed one of their franchise cornerstones in Satou Sabally. Sabally was a restricted free agent and able to sign an offer sheet […]