David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 48

With their 92-78 loss to the Chicago Sky on Friday, the Los Angeles Sparks were officially mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. But despite their fourth straight season of missing the playoffs, the Sparks can take comfort in the fact that they have rookie wing Rickea Jackson on their team. As the season has progressed, Jackson […]

When the Los Angeles Sparks added Odyssey Sims via a 7-day contract signing last month, it was a bit surprising that she was even available this late in the WNBA season. After all, she was coming off averaging a little over 17 points per game for the Dallas Wings. What was even more shocking was […]

The Phoenix Mercury are currently battling for playoff positioning as the 2024 WNBA season enters it’s final weeks. To help address their depth amid injuries to Rebecca Allen and Charisma Osborne, the Mercury added rookie Celeste Taylor who will remain with the team through the end of the season. The Mercury continued to bolster their […]

The Los Angeles Lakers are heading into the 2024-25 NBA season as the only team in the league who did not sign a new free agent in the offseason. A big part of that was due to their salary cap restrictions, and they’ll be hoping for improved on-court cohesiveness under new head coach JJ Redick […]

With each passing day, the Los Angeles Sparks see their playoff hopes slipping away. While they are not yet mathematically eliminated, a loss like Wednesday’s 93-86 defeat against the Indiana Fever does not help the Sparks’ case at all. Following the game, Sparks veteran guard Odyssey Sims spoke about what went wrong and what the […]

With the 2024 WNBA season winding down, the Los Angeles Sparks are not yet mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. There’s only one problem, the Sparks currently sit at the bottom of the WNBA standings. While they are only three and a half games back of the current No. 8 seed Chicago Sky, they would need […]

LOS ANGELES – Prior to the Los Angeles Sparks’ game against the Atlanta Dream on Sunday, head coach Curt Miller said he felt like Rickea Jackson was on her way to becoming a superstar player. While wins have been hard to come by for the Sparks this season, Jackson has catapulted her name into the […]

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Sparks, one of the WNBA’s original and most storied franchises, are on the verge of their fourth consecutive season of missing the playoffs. Throughout this season though, Sparks head coach Curt Miller has stressed the importance of the process and being a build rather than simply focusing on wins […]

With the departure of Paul George in NBA free agency, a lot of eyes are going to be on the Los Angeles Clippers this season. Following the release last month of the 2024-25 NBA season schedule, we’ll be making our Clippers bold predictions. The Clippers are going to look very different this upcoming season. In […]

The Connecticut Sun have been one of the best teams in the WNBA this season. They are currently 23-8 and trying to hold off the Minnesota Lynx for the second best record in the league. The Sun have opted to carry only 11 players this season and they recently decided to guarantee rookie Caitlin Bickle’s […]

The Los Angeles Sparks are coming off their best win of the season, a 94-88 victory against the league-leading New York Liberty. They did so short-handed with multiple players being out since the second half of the season resumed. But the Sparks are in line to get help going into their clash against the Atlanta […]

The 2024 WNBA season has been a long time coming for Los Angeles Sparks’ wing Rae Burrell. The No. 9 overall pick in the 2022 WNBA Draft, Burrell missed all but three games of her rookie season due to a foot injury. That was followed up with being cut from the Sparks’ roster at the […]

The Washington Mystics have been one of the bottom teams in the WNBA this season as they’ve suffered through key injuries. But they’ve recently hit a hot streak. Before their loss to the Connecticut Sun on Saturday, the Mystics hade won three games in a row. Mystics head coach Eric Thibault recently spoke about what’s […]

The Indiana Fever emerged victorious during their highly anticipated matchup against the Chicago Sky on Friday, 100-81. Not only that, but Fever rookie sensation Caitlin Clark finished with a career game. Caitlin Clark has drawn plenty of mixed emotions from fans, media and even fellow players during her rookie season, but she has a major […]

Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese has been a dominant force on the inside this season, with shades of another former dominant inside presence from LSU in Shaquille O’Neal. O’Neal fine tuned his game to get ready for the pros at LSU just like Reese. He’s taken on a bit of a mentor role to Reese […]

Since the passing of former NBA star Kobe Bryant, fans across the world have taken to celebrating Aug. 24 as ‘Kobe Day’ due to 8/24, the jersey numbers Bryant wore during his career. But maybe there’s a little magic in the air that day, at least according to Bryant’s old Los Angeles Lakers teammate Metta […]

The Chicago Sky will host the Indiana Fever on Friday in what will be the final meeting of the regular season between these two teams. It’s also the last time that Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark will face off in the regular season. For fans hoping to grab a ticket to the game, it’s going […]

The Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky have squared off against each other three times so far this season with the Fever winning two of those games. Both teams are set to face off for the fourth and final time this year on Friday in what will be a matchup of two WNBA Rookie of the […]

LOS ANGELES – Coming into Wednesday, the Los Angeles Sparks had lost seven consecutive games that dated back before the Olympic break. With the New York Liberty in town, the team with the best record in the WNBA, the Sparks faced a daunting task if they hoped to snap their losing streak. But the Sparks […]

After spending the first six seasons of her WNBA career with the Indiana Fever, Victoria Vivians knew she was ready for a fresh start. The Fever and Victoria Vivians agreed to a contract buyout during the offseason, as per Chloe Peterson of The Indy Star, and she was then signed by the Seattle Storm. Vivians […]

It was a big day for the Minnesota Lynx with franchise legend Maya Moore getting her jersey retired as well as Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever being in town. One of the greatest players to ever play the game, and a player who may be on the path to reach that level. There was […]

The Los Angeles Sparks are in the midst of a rebuild that was accelerated with two lottery picks in the 2024 WNBA Draft. One of those lottery picks, Cameron Brink, is lost for the season due to an ACL injury. Wins have been hard to come by. But all is not lost for the Sparks. […]

When it comes to the GOAT NBA player conversation, there are the usual suspects mentioned. Debating the GOAT NBA player is one of NBA fans’ favorite pastimes and it seems like everyday there’s a new debate ongoing on social media. But what do the actual players think? Well if you ask former Lakers star Magic […]

Coming into the 2024 WNBA season, the general consensus was that Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark was going to be the overwhelming favorite for the league’s Rookie of the Year Award. But Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese has planted her name firmly in the conversation, especially with a bit a recent WNBA history-making feat. Angel […]

The Golden State Warriors are going to look drastically different for the 2024-25 season. Gone is Klay Thompson, left to the Dallas Mavericks in a sign and trade. The pressing question facing the Warriors is whether or not they still have a championship caliber roster. During a recent episode of Kevin Garnett’s podcast, ‘KG Certified,’ […]

The Seattle Storm have emerged as one of the WNBA’s contenders, and they strengthened their roster this past week with the signing of Olympics star Gabby Williams. But it wasn’t always clear if Williams would play in the WNBA this season. During her first media availability since signing with the Storm, Gabby Williams criticized the […]

With Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese gone to the WNBA, there is no bigger name in college basketball than USC Trojans star JuJu Watkins. As a freshman at USC, Watkins broke numerous records and put up insane numbers. And ahead of her sophomore year, JuJu Watkins was in the lab working out with a former […]

After back to back No. 1 picks in the WNBA Draft, the Indiana Fever are firmly in the playoff race. All that remains is where the Fever will ultimately be seeded. They’ll most likely be in the bottom half of the playoff standings, and according to former WNBA star Sue Bird, the duo of Caitlin […]

The Los Angeles Sparks may be in the middle of a tough road trip in the present, but on Thursday they made a few decisions looking towards the future. The Sparks agreed to contract extensions with both Azurá Stevens and Stephanie Talbot, the team announced. The extensions will carry both players through the 2025 season. […]

With the 2024-25 NBA season schedule released last week, many eyes will be on the Los Angeles Lakers as they begin their first season with JJ Redick at the helm. Ahead of the start of the season, we will be making our Lakers bold predictions. It was an offseason of change for the Lakers as […]

After spending the last couple of seasons teetering between trying to contend and trying to rebuild, the Toronto Raptors finally chose a side when they traded two of the last remaining players of their 2019 championship team in Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby. Those trades signaled the Raptors’ shift towards a rebuild around rising star […]

The Los Angeles Sparks’ current road trip continued on Tuesday amid a sold-out historic WNBA game at TD Garden, home of the Boston Celtics. While the Sparks managed to hang tough against the Connecticut Sun, a few miscues and breakdowns in the fourth quarter doomed them. Following the game, Dearica Hamby spoke about what went […]

The Seattle Storm came into the 2024 WNBA season hoping to be a title contender with their free agent acquisitions of Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith. So far, the Storm have been one of the better teams in the WNBA after a slow start to the season. Following the Olympics, the Storm have been one […]

The Los Angeles Sparks began a four-game road trip on Sunday with an 87-71 loss against the Las Vegas Aces. It’s the Sparks third consecutive loss and they are winless since the Olympic break ended. But the Sparks competed throughout most of the game against the Aces and following the game, veteran guard Kia Nurse […]

The New York Liberty have come out of the Olympic break looking like the clear favorite for the WNBA championship. Following the Olympics, the Liberty have been one of the WNBA teams who have been linked to French star Gabby Williams should she decided to return to the WNBA for the second half of the […]

The Phoenix Mercury are 1-1 since the 2024 WNBA season resumed and they’re currently fighting for playoff positioning. The Mercury’s depth has been a talking point all season and they recently received worrisome news regarding Rebecca Allen. But on Sunday the Mercury added a proven veteran to their roster in Monique Billings on a 7-day […]

LOS ANGELES – Coming out of the Olympic break and into the second half of the 2024 WNBA season, the Los Angeles Sparks have been bit by the injury bug. With four players out due to various reasons, the Sparks needed immediate help on Saturday against the Chicago Sky and they turned to a familiar […]

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Sparks were hoping for a strong showing on Saturday against the visiting Chicago Sky, a showing that would wipe away the bitter taste of their embarrassing loss against the New York Liberty earlier this week. While the effort was better, the Sparks still suffered a late game collapse against […]

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Sparks are attempting to move past Thursday’s humiliating loss against the New York Liberty, but they have a new challenge ahead of them. With the Chicago Sky in town, the Sparks are tasked with trying to slow down the Sky’s rugged rebounding rookie Angel Reese. Before the game, Sparks […]