David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 57

Throughout NBA history, NBA fans have always been fascinated with smaller players. From Muggsy Bogues, to Allen Iverson, to Isaiah Thomas, to Jalen Brunson and more, small players have always seemed to become fan favorites. One of the current smallest players in the NBA is Memphis Grizzlies guard Jacob Gilyard who is all of 5-foot-8 […]

On Friday, the college basketball world was treated to an explosive performance from USC freshman JuJu Watkins. Watkins exploded for a career-high 51 points in a big road win against No. 4 Stanford. It was the highest scoring game of this season, as well as the highest scoring game in USC women’s basketball history. Not […]

The Memphis Grizzlies have been hit hard by injury issues this season and it has derailed their year. Ping pong balls in the lottery and pride are what they have to play for this season. They dropped another game on Friday, this time against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, 121-101. But the Grizzlies, […]

The Denver Nuggets are the reigning NBA champions with a good shot a repeating this season. The Nuggets are led by their star duo of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. While Jokic was just named to his sixth consecutive All-Star selection, Jamal Murray has never once been named to the NBA’s midseason showcase. It’s a […]

The Los Angeles Clippers continued their Grammy road trip on Friday with a win against the Detroit Pistons, 136-125. After getting off to a six game losing streak in the immediate aftermath of the James Harden trade, the Clippers have been playing phenomenal basketball. They’ve climbed the Western Conference standings and are in striking distance […]

It has been a tough season injury wise for Mike Woodson and the Indiana Hoosiers. The Hoosiers have not been able to field a completely healthy roster for much of this season and they’ve stumbled to a 5-5 record in Big 10 Conference play despite an overall record 13-8. Coming into their next game against […]

Former NBA first-round pick Tony Snell found himself at the forefront of the NBA world this week when it was revealed that Snell needed to be on a team roster by the end of Friday in order to be eligible for the league’s premium healthcare plan. Being on a roster would give Snell 10 years […]

The Nebraska Cornhuskers basketball team has been having a decent overall year at 16-6, but they’ve struggled a bit in Big 10 Conference play as they’ve only managed a 6-5 record. Nebraska has actually gotten better though each season under Fred Hoiberg and this is the first time in his five years as head coach […]

The Washington Wizards made a huge move even before the WNBA free agency period began when they made the decision to core Elena Delle Donne. Although the move does not guarantee that Delle Donne will remain in a Mystics jersey for his upcoming season, it makes it a little more difficult for her to leave […]

The Indiana Fever already have a foundational player in Aliyah Boston. They have the opportunity to add another foundational player in this upcoming WNBA Draft with the No. 1 overall pick, widely expected to be Iowa star Caitlin Clark. In order to the build a contending team around their budding stars, they’ll need to grab […]

For much of last season, the Connecticut Sun kept up in the WNBA standings as the third best team in the league alongside the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty. With a star duo in Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner, one of the Sun’s biggest needs in WNBA free agency was three point […]

The Indiana Fever hit the jackpot when they got the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft and used it to select rising star Aliyah Boston. They got another major boost getting the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming WNBA Draft which they’re widely expected to use on Iowa star Caitlin Clark […]

The Chicago Sky made their major WNBA free agency move even before the 2023 season ended when they signed star guard Kahleah Copper to a contract extension. Copper was set to hit unrestricted free agency during  this offseason and the Sky ensured they have the All-Star guard locked up for at least two more seasons. […]

The WNBA free agency moratorium period is set to end on Thursday with contracts becoming official. A day before the period ended, there was a mini-flurry of reported signings. Even so, some of the major dominoes such as Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins-Smith and Natasha Cloud remain unsigned. Each of those players are potential game-changers depending […]

Iowa Hawkeye’s star Caitlin Clark hasn’t even reached the WNBA yet and she’s already a household name. She’s taken the NCAA by storm the past couple of seasons and this year she’s elevated her game even more. Iowa has been one of the top ranked teams in the country the entire season and they’re one […]

Before the season started, the Portland Trail Blazers did the unthinkable in that they finally traded franchise cornerstone Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks. Lillard had become almost synonymous with the Blazers franchise but it was clear that his time with the team had run its course. Now as a member of the Bucks, Lillard […]

The Philadelphia 76ers have been in the spotlight recently regarding the health of star big man Joel Embiid. Joel Embiid was set to play in the Sixers big game against the Denver Nuggets this past weekend for a star matchup against Nikola Jokic. He was ruled out during warmups due to a knee issue. On […]

The Denver Nuggets are the reigning NBA champions and have a good shot at getting back to the Finals this season. That’s largely in part to their superstar duo of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. But a major reason why the Nuggets had such a strong run to the title last season was because of […]

The WNBA free agency moratorium period is nearing an end with players able to officially sign contracts beginning Feb. 1. Until then, deals can only be reported but not yet made official. There hasn’t been much movement so far with a couple of big dominoes yet to fall. The Dallas Wings have already agreed to […]

The Phoenix Suns have been surging in the Western Conference standings as of late. They’ve overcome a slow start to the season that was riddled with injury issues and have been playing like the borderline contender many felt they would be. The Suns are currently on a long, seven game road trip, but they could […]

The San Antonio Spurs may be one of the worst teams in the NBA, but they’re still a must-see TV team due to rookie star Victor Wembanyama. One of the frontrunners for the Rookie of the Year Award, Wembanyama continues to dazzle fans with his seemingly unreal ability. Victor Wembanyama came up with yet another […]

It’s NBA rivalry week this week with matchups scheduled not only between teams that are rivals, but players as well. One of the most anticipated matchups this week came in the form of the Philadelphia 76ers and the Denver Nuggets. It was a matchup between two perennial MVP candidates in Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid. […]

It’s been a tough start to the 2023-24 season for the USC basketball team. They’ve struggled to get wins after being a preseason top 25 team and they’ve dealt with injury issues to their starting backcourt of Isaiah Collier and Boogie Ellis. Even so, their annual rivalry matchup with crosstown UCLA still managed to draw […]

The Charlotte Hornets haven’t had much to cheer about this season. It appears as if they’re headed for yet another lottery finish. They’ve been in trade rumors regarding some of their veterans such as Miles Bridges, PJ Washington and Gordon Hayward and they’ve already shipped out Terry Rozier. But one of the lone bright spots […]

The WNBA free agency moratorium period is underway with teams and players allowed to negotiate contracts. None of those deals can become official though until Feb. 1. It’s been relatively quiet so far with a couple of deals being reported and one big bombshell move in the works. The Los Angeles Sparks may be losing […]

Since the OG Anunoby trade, the New York Knicks have been one of the hottest teams in the NBA. Since Anunoby made his Knicks debut, they have won 12 of their last 14 games. That also includes six straight wins with Saturday’s victory over the Miami Heat. But the biggest concern following the Knicks win […]

The WNBA free agency moratorium period is set to end next week and teams and players can officially start signing deals. There have been a few reported deals so far though as well as some bombshell movement. One of the top free agents on the market this offseason was Dallas Wings center Kalani Brown. Brown […]

The Utah Jazz climbed back to .500 with a win against the Washington Wizards on Thursday. Despite their early struggles, the Jazz have been playing much better basketball as of late, so much so that John Collins is reportedly no longer on the trade block. Speaking of Collins, he had a monster game against the […]

The Utah Jazz have been a team that’s fighting for a play-in spot this season. On Thursday they snapped a three game losing streak by beating the Washington Wizards, 123-108, and climbed to .500 at 23-23. This is a team that plays hard and plays tough and they’re not to be taken lightly. In the […]

The Phoenix Suns haven’t quite gotten off to the start they anticipated when they formed a Big 3 of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. They have been playing better as of late though. They’ve played well enough for fans, media and fellow players to take note of Kevin Durant playing like an All-Star. […]

The Miami Heat made a big move ahead of the NBA Trade Deadline, shipping out veteran guard Kyle Lowry and bringing in Terry Rozier. The move has the potential to be a difference-maker for the Heat as they look to keep pace in the Eastern Conference standings. They played their first game since the trade […]

The Milwaukee Bucks sent shockwaves through the NBA world on Tuesday when they announced they had fired head coach Adrian Griffin. Griffin was in his first season as head coach and the Bucks held a 30-13 record and the second seed in the Eastern Conference standings. The news was followed by a conflicting reports that […]

The Los Angeles Lakers had a shot to get over .500 on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Clippers, but they lost, 127-118 to slip one game under .500. The Lakers were short-handed as LeBron James was ruled out due to an ankle injury. The Lakers have another game against the Chicago Bulls at home on […]

The NBA Trade Deadline is just a few weeks away with a couple of teams already making notable trades. This is the time of year when trade rumors are swirling out of nowhere almost every team is linked to some type of trade. The Philadelphia 76ers are a team that could be looking to upgrade […]

The Toronto Raptors have finally decided to blow it up with the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers being the beneficiaries. The Knicks received OG Anunoby and the Pacers received Pascal Siakam as the Raptors jettisoned the final members of the 2019 championship team. Pascal Siakam made his Pacers debut alongside Tyrese Haliburton on Friday […]

The Golden State Warriors and the NBA world in general were hit hard this past week with the passing of Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojevic. Milojevic suffered a heart attack while out with team staff and players on Tuesday and was pronounced dead the following morning. By all accounts, Milojevic was a positive influence in […]

The WNBA Free Agency period is set to begin on Sunday. Teams will be allowed to negotiate deals with players although terms cannot become official under Feb. 1. In the meantime, teams can tender qualifying offers to restricted free agents as well assign a core designation to a single free agent already on the roster. […]

The USC basketball team has not been very good this season. Even so, they have had fans, media and NBA teams alike tuning into the their games. A big reason for that is they have a potential lottery pick in Isaiah Collier. But perhaps the key reason for USC’s popularity is the presence of Bronny […]

Since John Calipari has been head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats basketball team, they have become a major destination for top high school basketball prospects with goals of playing in the NBA. The Wildcats current roster features a few players who are NBA prospects and considered top picks in the upcoming NBA Draft. There is […]