David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 65

It’s been an emotional start to the 2023 WNBA season for the Phoenix Mercury. The start of the season marked the long anticipated return to the court for Mercury star Brittney Griner. Vice President Kamala Harris was on hand for Griner’s first game of the season against the Los Angeles Sparks and it that was […]

The Denver Nuggets have some time off before the NBA Finals begin. They are awaiting the winner of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics. They completed an impressive Western Conference Finals sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers and they’ve been looking like the best team in the NBA Playoffs. One […]

The Phoenix Mercury got their first win of the 2023 WNBA season on Thursday with a 90-81 win against the Minnesota Lynx. It was the first game for the Mercury that felt somewhat normal this season as their first two games marked the return of franchise star Brittney Griner. The Mercury’s first game of the […]

The Washington Mystics have gotten off to a bit of a slow start to the 2023 WNBA season. They are 1-2 and have just dropped two straight games against the Connecticut Sun, games that might have been winable for them. After their most recent loss to the Sun on Sunday, the main story after the […]

The Boston Celtics kept their season alive on Tuesday with a massive 116-99 win in the NBA Playoffs against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. They now get to go home and try and extend this series even more by forcing a Game 6 on the Heat’s home floor. Crucial to their success […]

The Atlanta Dream have started out the 2023 season at 1-1 so far. After a season-opening loss against the Dallas Wings when they were buried by an avalanche of Arike Ogunbowale jumpers, they got a big road win against the Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday. The Dream added a major piece in the offseason in the […]

With the 2023 WNBA season now underway, teams are allowed to sign players to hardship contracts. If a team is below ten available players, they can temporarily sign an additional player past the maximum of 12 allowed on a roster. Once they reach ten available players, the hardship contract ends and that player is released. […]

The 2023 WNBA season is officially underway and most teams will have played at least two games by the end of this week. In the early goings, the Dallas Wings are near the top of the standings having won their season opener against the Atlanta Dream. The Wings made the playoffs last season but revamped […]

The Boston Celtics held off elimination in the NBA Playoffs with a 116-99 win in Game 4 against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. As they now head back home for Game 5, they’re trying to become the first team to come back from a 3-0 deficit and win a playoff series. Continued […]

The Chicago Sky knew they were headed to a rebuild, or at least a retool after this past offseason. They lost several key players from their 2021 championship team including Candace Parker, Courtney Vandersloot and Azurá Stevens in free agency. Allie Quigley decided to sit out the 2023 season. The Sky revamped their roster with […]

The Connecticut Sun figured to take a step back this season. They lost head coach Curt Miller to the Los Angeles Sparks and traded franchise cornerstone Jonquel Jones to the New York Liberty. Don’t tell them that though, the Sun have gotten off to one of the best starts in the league this season at […]

The Phoenix Mercury received a huge boost this season with the highly anticipated return of Brittney Griner. Despite that, it’s been a rough start for the Mercury who have started the 2023 WNBA season 0-2. They lost on the road in their season opener against the Los Angeles Sparks and they dropped their home opener […]

The transfer portal has changed the college basketball landscape forever. Each offseason it seems like more and more players add their names to the portal in search of another home. It’s almost become like a free agency for college basketball. This offseason, several big names have already switched jerseys. With the summer barely set to […]

The Seattle Storm have been one of the elite teams in the WNBA for a long time. The franchise has won four championships in 2004, 2010, 2018 and 2020. There’s obviously been roster turnover from the team’s first championship to their last one. But the one constant on all four of those title teams was […]

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers were swept out of the NBA Playoffs following a 113-111 loss to the Denver Nuggets in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals. James did his best to keep the Lakers season alive with one of the best performances of his career. It wasn’t enough though as the […]

The Los Angeles Lakers were swept out of the NBA Playoffs on Monday with a 113-111 loss in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets. After winning the previous two series in impressive fashion without home-court advantage, the Lakers’ run ended there. The team started the season 2-10 only to make […]

The Phoenix Suns were humiliatingly eliminated from the NBA Playoffs in the second round by the Denver Nuggets. After tying the series at 2-2, the Suns lost two straight games including Game 6 at home in embarrassing fashion. While the Suns faced question marks heading into the postseason regarding their lack of depth, the initial […]

The Denver Nuggets have a commanding 3-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers and are on the verge of advancing to the NBA Finals. Nikola Jokic may not have won the NBA’s MVP award, but he’s been reminding people throughout the entire NBA Playoffs that he had more than a […]

The 2023 WNBA season is only a couple of days old and there’s already been some historic accomplishments. The New York Liberty may have lost their season opener against the Washington Mystics, but they bounced back in a big way in their home opener with with a 90-73 win against the Indiana Fever. Not only […]

The Denver Nuggets have a commanding 3-0 lead over the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. They are in prime position to advance to the NBA Finals. They need to win one more game though in this series, but they’re not going to be satisfied simply by advancing to the next round. Following […]

With the 2023 WNBA season set to tip-off this Friday, May 19, much of the discourse this week has been focused on roster cuts. WNBA teams are allowed a maximum of 12 players on their regular season rosters with a few teams carrying only 11 due to salary cap restraints. With only 12 teams and […]

Following the Golden State Warriors second round exit in the NBA Playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers, rumors have already begun swirling as to how different the roster could look next season. It’s not just the team roster that could look drastically different, but the front office as well. Warriors general manager and president of […]

The Denver Nuggets may have won Game 1 of their Western Conference Finals series in the NBA Playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers, but it might have been difficult to tell. The Nuggets lead by double-digits for most of the game but due to a late Lakers flurry that got them within three points in […]

The Denver Nuggets took a commanding 2-0 series lead in the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers with a 108-103 win in Game 2. They trailed for most of the game and faced a double-digit deficit at various points in the second half. They battled back though and gutted it out in the […]

If the NBA’s MVP Award included the NBA Playoffs, Nikola Jokic would have won the award in a landslide. Even so, he had a legitimate case for the award during the regular season despite what some people might have done with their ballot. Jokic is arguably the best player in the league and through the […]

The 2023 WNBA season begins this Friday, May 19. Teams had until Thursday to bring their rosters down to the league maximum of 12 players. Due to salary cap restraints, some teams will only be carrying 11 players. There’s been a ton of discourse this week regarding roster cuts in the WNBA with a lot […]

Many WNBA players are finding out their future this week as the start of the 2023 regular season is set for this Friday, May 19. Some players will get the good news that their professional dream continues as they made a team’s final roster. Yet for others, they will get the bad news that their […]

This week is an important one for WNBA players. With the 2023 regular season opener set for Friday, May 19, many WNBA teams are making their final roster cuts. A host of players will receive the news as to whether they have earned a coveted roster spot or if their WNBA dream is temporarily put […]

The 2023 WNBA regular season is set to begin this Friday, May 19 and so this week will be filled with teams making contract and roster decisions. Some players are going to be rewarded for their play during training camp and preseason and earn a coveted WNBA roster spot. Others are going to see their […]

With the 2023 WNBA regular season set to tip-off, teams are in the midst of making their final roster decisions. Some of those decisions are tough roster cuts amid a shortage of roster spots. Some of the top college players are getting a first hand experience of just how tough it is to make a […]

The WNBA issued their ruling regarding their active investigation into the Las Vegas Aces. The league gave Aces head coach Becky Hammon a two-game suspension and also stripped the team of their 2025 first round draft pick. They don’t have a 2024 draft pick due to a trade. The WNBA had launched an investigation into […]

The 2023 WNBA season is set to tip-off on Friday, May 19 but the league made some major headlines on Tuesday regarding their investigation into the Las Vegas Aces. The league was investigated allegations brought forth by former player Dearica Hamby as well as allegations of providing impermissible benefits to players. As a result of […]

The Boston Celtics held off elimination in Game 6 on the road against the Philadelphia 76ers in their second round playoff series in the NBA Playoffs. They followed that up with a dominant 112-88 performance at home in Game 7 to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second straight season. It was an […]

With WNBA preseason getting close to wrapping up and the regular season set to tip-off on May 19, some teams have a few roster decisions to make. From roster cuts to contract options, some teams are deciding the future of some of the players on their teams. Each team is allowed a maximum of 20 […]

With the 2023 NBA Draft about one month away, many teams are zeroing in on potential draft prospects. A few major events are scheduled to take place this month including the G League Elite Camp, the official draft combine and the draft lottery itself. NBA team front office reps are all scheduled to descend on […]

Emotions are always running high during Game 7s in the NBA Playoffs and Sunday’s game between the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics was no exception. During one play in the first half, Sixers wing Georges Niang appeared to grab Celtics star Jaylen Brown by the leg as he attempted to get back up court. Brown […]

In the NBA, dynasties never last forever and it appears as if the Golden State Warriors have arrived at a crossroads in terms of what next season will look like. Following their second round loss in the NBA Playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers, it’s likely there will be major roster changes as well as […]

It’s been ten years since the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels last made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Since then, they’ve gone through five different head coaches with the latest being Kevin Kruger. He is the son of former UNLV coach Lon Kruger who actually had a winning record with the team at 161-74. UNLV used […]

The Phoenix Suns shocked the NBA world on Saturday with the decision to fire head coach Monty Williams. Earlier they had made a few other moves that was a precursor when they let go a few members of the front office and the scouting staff. With new owner Mat Ishbia in place, it appears as […]