David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 61

When Chelsea Gray stepped up to the podium for a media availability session before the WNBA All-Star Skills Challenge, she didn’t think she was going to be doing it alone. Sure enough, her Las Vegas Aces teammate and backcourt partner Kelsey Plum sauntered in late after Gray had already begun taking questions. Gray gave her […]

The Boston Celtics came into the 2022-23 season as the favorite in the Eastern Conference to reach the NBA Finals. After losing to the Golden State Warriors in 2022, they were determined to make it back and contend for the franchise’s 17th title. The Celtics managed to reach the East Finals, but they lost in […]

When the 2023 WNBA season tipped-off, one of the most anticipated storylines was the debut of Aliyah Boston. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft by the Indiana Fever, Boston was one of the most highly touted rookies in recent history. A star at South Carolina under Dawn Staley, and arguably the best […]

The Toronto Raptors had a lot of big decisions to make heading into the 2023 offseason. After deciding to stand pat at the trade deadline, the question now becomes what direction do they want to go in. Do they want to stay the course and add to the already existing core? Or do they want […]

With each made three-point shot that Sabrina Ionescu swished, the crowd grew louder and louder. After she drilled several shots in a row, it became clear that something special was happening at the WNBA All-Star 3Pt-Contest. Sure enough, by the time that the New York Liberty star completed the course, she stood alone with a […]

The Houston Rockets have been building a solid young core even if there’s been a lot of growing pains the past couple of seasons. They were able to add to that core this offseason in the form of the NBA Draft. They had a solid foundation in the form of Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr., […]

This coming weekend is a big one for the WNBA as the All-Star Game is finally here. The event returns to Las Vegas, the home of the Aces after being held in Chicago last season. The Skills Challenge and 3-Point Contest will be held on Friday, July 13, the day before the actual WNBA All-Star […]

WNBA All-Star weekend is here. After being held in Chicago last season, the league’s midseason showcase is back in Las Vegas, the home of the Aces who currently hold the best record in the WNBA. The day before the actual game is played, however, the WNBA will showcase their version of the Skills Challenge as […]

It was a disappointing season for the Chicago Bulls in 2022-23. After a somewhat promising 2021-22 season, they took a step back and finished tenth in the Eastern Conference. Although they won their initial play-in game, they lost to the Miami Heat in their second play-in game and failed to make the playoffs. Not only […]

The theme for NBA Summer League this offseason for the Oklahoma City Thunder has been the play of Chet Holmgren. After he suffered an injury last offseason while playing in Jamal Crawford’s summer pro am league, he missed the entirety of what would have been his rookie season. This is his first game action against […]

The Los Angeles Lakers had a strong NBA free agency period this offseason. For the most part, they opted to run it back with a few key free agent additions. They re-signed Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura while adding impact players in Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince and Jaxon Hayes. But in order for […]

To say this was a magical season for Denver Nuggets star Jamal Murray would be an understatement. After missing the entirety of the 2021-22 season as he recovered from an ACL injury, Murray returned with a vengeance having one of his best individual seasons while helping lead the Nuggets to the NBA championship. He’s cemented […]

The Brooklyn Nets made the major decision to move on from the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving duo this season. When they initially paired the two stars, they had championship aspirations. But injuries and off the court issues derailed that dream and the Nets decided it was time to change course. In the Durant trade […]

The Golden State Warriors knew they had to make some big decisions to make this offseason when it came to getting their team back to championship form. Their main focus was re-signing Draymond Green, who used his player option to opt out of his contract and become a free agent. While Green drew interest from […]

The Houston Rockets have established a solid young core of players. With former lottery picks Jalen Green and Jabari Smith Jr. on the team along with Alperen Segun, Kevin Porter Jr. and Tari Eason, the Rockets have a future they can believe in. They added to that core in the NBA Draft when they selected […]

All eyes were on Las Vegas this week for the NBA’s Summer League as San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama was set to make his NBA debut. Not since LeBron James has a player had this much hype and anticipation. Wembanyama did not play in the California Classic Summer League and so there was a […]

The Los Angeles Lakers have had one of the best NBA free agency periods in the league. They managed to keep together the majority of the team that made it to the Western Conference Finals as well as adding a few new pieces who will make immediate impacts. One of the Lakers biggest moves in […]

The Miami Heat have had strong success in recent years with undrafted players. During their most recent playoff run to the Finals, they had three players who were undrafted in Gabe Vincent, Max Strus and Duncan Robinson playing major minutes. They had another in Haywood Highsmith who gave them solid playoff minutes at times as […]

The women’s basketball world suffered a heavy loss this past week with the death of Nikki McCray-Penson. The former WNBA player and college coach was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012. While the cause of her death has not yet been confirmed, McCray-Penson was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013 and was also […]

It’s been a very disappointing season for the Phoenix Mercury thus far. What began as a season full of hope and excitement as Brittney Griner made her much anticipated return to the court, has ended up going south very quickly. The Mercury have been one of the worst teams in the WNBA this season and […]

When it comes to the WNBA All-Star game, the league has adopted a similar structure to the NBA with the two team captains selecting their respective teams. The two team captains this season were Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson and New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart. This past NBA All-Star game, Nikola Jokic had […]

The West Virginia Mountaineers received unfortunate news last month when head coach Bob Huggins was arrested for DUI. Following the incident, Huggins resigned from his position as head coach leaving the team in a state of flux. Not only did they lose Huggins, but West Virginia also experienced a mass exodus of players entering the […]

When the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement was ratified, the Denver Nuggets were almost certainly going to be a team that was hurt by it. Due to salary cap restraints, it was always a strong possibility that the Nuggets weren’t going to be able to retain all of their championship core. Sure enough, the Nuggets […]

NBA free agency is starting to wind down with most teams having made all of their key offseason moves. The Miami Heat find themselves in an interesting situation as they are considered the frontrunners to land Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard. The Heat didn’t have much cap space to spend in NBA free agency […]

The Toronto Raptors lost one of their heart and soul members of the team this offseason when Fred VanVleet signed with the Houston Rockets in NBA free agency. VanVleet was one of the Raptors’ top success stories of the past couple of seasons. Undrafted out of Wichita State, VanVleet became a fan favorite and leader […]

With NBA free agency dying down now, most of the moves being made involve restricted free agents or end of the bench type moves. Many teams probably won’t commit to the last couple of roster spots just yet in case somebody ends up surprising and standing out at summer league. For the Chicago Bulls, they’ve […]

The Dallas Mavericks have had an aggressive offseason so far as they look to build a championship contender around stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. The number one priority for the Mavs was to re-sign Kyrie Irving, and they accomplished that right away. They brought back Dwight Powell to beef up their front line, and […]

Coming out of high school, Vernon Carey Jr. was one of the top basketball players in the country. A consensus five-star recruit out of NSU University School, Carey was a McDonalds All-American and he played on the famed Nike EYBL circuit. He committed to Duke over schools such as Kentucky, UCLA, UNC, Louisville and Kansas. […]

Back during March Madness, Kansas State’s Markquis Nowell exploded on the scene with his phenomenal play. He set an NCAA Tournament record for most assists in a game and led the Wildcats on a strong postseason run. His standout play wasn’t enough to get him selected in the NBA Draft though, as for some reason […]

JThe Miami Heat have had a relatively quiet offseason so far in terms of official deals. They brought back Kevin Love and added Josh Richardson and Thomas Bryant in NBA free agency. They did lose Gabe Vincent and Max Strus to the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers, respectively, but they have players who can […]

Even though NBA free agency is just a week old, all of the big signings and dominoes have fallen already. Between now and training camp, most free agent signings are going to be end of the bench, minimum contracts. There are some key restricted free agents still available, but with much of the free agent […]

NBA free agency is beginning to wind down. Even though July 6 is the day that contracts can become official, most deals have already been agreed upon. Most of the top free agents already knew where their destination would be shortly after the negotiation period began on June 30. From now until the start of […]

The Sacramento Kings are coming off one of their best seasons in franchise history. With new head coach Mike Brown at the helm, the team finished in the top three in the Western Conference Standings and pushed the defending champion Golden State Warriors to seven games in the first round of the playoffs. The next […]

The first weekend of NBA free agency has come and gone and with it most of the free agent money as well. Most of the top free agents have all agreed in principle to deals already as contracts cannot become official until July 6. Most of the best remaining free agents are the restricted free […]

The Phoenix Suns biggest question mark following their blockbuster trade with the Washington Wizards for Bradley Beal was their depth. It was a key question mark last season as well even after adding Kevin Durant at the trade deadline. The Durant and Beal trades left the Suns very top heavy but not much in the […]

The exodus from the Bob Huggins resignation at West Virginia has continued even though they did get some good news recently regarding sharpshooting guard Kerr Kriisa. Their losses have been other teams’ gains, however, and one of the most significant additions of the offseason has been Tre Mitchell committing to Kentucky. Texas Tech has been […]

The Atlanta Dream are in an interesting position in the Eastern Conference in that they’re a borderline team. They’re currently 7-8 on the season but have recently won two games in a row. They don’t presently occupy a playoff spot but they’re essentially tied percentage-wise with the Chicago Sky for the fourth and final playoff […]

The Washington Mystics received some devastating news recently with the announcement that Shakira Austin was going to miss a significant amount of time due to a hip injury. Up to this point, Austin had been one of the Mystics top performers and in the running for the WNBA’s Most Improved Player Award. The No. 3 […]

The Milwaukee Bucks challenge once NBA free agency rolled around was to retool the supporting cast a little bit to ensure that this team is a championship contender. Their number one priority was re-signing Khris Middleton in NBA free agency and they did so. They also needed to re-sign Brook Lopez and they did that […]