David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 85

NBA All-Star Weekend has come and gone and it was not without criticism. From team captains LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo not playing the second half bringing up issues of load management to the actual game itself and people questioning the players apparent lackluster effort, there have been numerous takes and think pieces as to […]

When Overtime Elite first began, the premise was to provide high school players with a possible alternative to the traditional college basketball route. Players can begin getting paid while prepping for the NBA Draft. During the 2022 draft, Dominick Barlow became the first Overtime Elite player to make to the NBA when he was signed […]

Much of the Los Angeles Lakers season aspirations hinge of the health and availability of their two stars, LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Both players have missed some extensive time this season and with time running out for the Lakers to try and sneak into the postseason, it is crucial to have both on the […]

The Memphis Grizzlies have been without starting center Steven Adams for around one month now and it doesn’t appear as if they have a clear timetable for his return. It’s been a blow to the Grizzlies as Adams is one of the best rebounders in the NBA. Adams initially hurt his knee back on Jan. […]

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was ruled out for the remainder of the NBA All-Star Game with a wrist injury. As James was giving handshakes to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone at the half, the injury probably isn’t too serious and is just a precautionary measure. James was voted in as a starter and […]

The NBA All-Star Game is always a fun event and an opportunity for players to get out on the court and do things that they may not ordinarily get to do during regular NBA games. For Ja Morant, the NBA All-Star Game is just another opportunity for him to show off his electrifying arsenal of […]

The league moved to a different format for the NBA All-Star Game this season. The inclusion of an All-Star draft was a new addition in recent seasons, but the brand new addition for this season was having the draft take place immediately before the NBA All-Star Game in a bit of a pick-up game format. […]

When it was announced that the draft for the NBA All-Star Game would take place immediately before the game, it built up some excitement and paved the way for some hilarity to ensue. Sure enough, there were laughs abound right at the beginning when Giannis Antetokounmpo selected Ja Morant with his third pick in the […]

The Boston Celtics have a dynamic duo in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, arguably the top duo in the NBA. Behind the star duo’s play this season, the Celtics sport the best record in the NBA at 42-17. Being able to play alongside another superstar isn’t always the easiest thing to do, but Brown and […]

New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado has been one of the NBA’s feel-good stories since he stepped onto the scene last season as a rookie and made an impact throughout the season and into the playoffs as the Pelicans pushed the No. 1 seed Phoenix Suns to six games in the first round. Alvarado made […]

If last year’s NBA Slam Dunk Contest was a snooze-fest, this year’s event at NBA All-Star weekend was anything. That was largely in part because of Philadelphia 76ers guard Mac McClung who got fans and players out of their seats multiple times during his dazzling performance. McClung has been a dunking sensation since his high […]

There’s not much that Damian Lillard can’t do on the basketball court. The Portland Trail Blazers star is one of the most electric and explosive players in the NBA with unlimited range. So it was only natural that he would be invited back to the 3pt Shootout at NBA All-Star weekend. Lillard took home the […]

It’s safe to say that there was a lot of head-scratching from fans when New York Knicks star Julius Randle was named as a replacement to the 3pt Shootout at NBA All-Star weekend after the Portland Trail Blazers Anfernee Simons withdrew. Randle is certainly an All-Star, but it’s not as if he is known as […]

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo has made his ascent as one of the NBA’s elite players and is well on his way to becoming one of the best players to ever play the game. He’s a two-time MVP Award winner and he has one NBA championship. This season, he has been playing at an MVP […]

Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic will be appearing in his fourth consecutive NBA All-Star Game amid a stellar season. On Friday before the weekend’s festivities kicked off, Doncic took to social media to give a heartfelt thanks to the Mavs fans who voted him in as a starter in the Western Conference. Doncic appeared in […]

The Western Conference got a major shakeup at the NBA trade deadline when Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving suddenly found themselves out West. Kevin Durant was traded to the Phoenix Suns and Kyrie Irving wound up with the Dallas Mavericks. While the new moves make the Western Conference that much tougher, for some of the […]

The Detroit Pistons have had a forgettable season. They are 15-44 are at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. Only the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets have worse records in the NBA. But there have been some flashes of potential with the young core that the Pistons have in place. One member of […]

The dust from WNBA free agency has settled and most WNBA teams are now filling out the backend of their rosters. WNBA teams are allowed to bring 20 players to training camp and need to cut down to the league maximum of 12 players. Although many of the training camp invites don’t have a legit […]

Last week, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James made history when he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in becoming the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. Abdul-Jabbar retired with the Lakers but he began his career with the Milwaukee Bucks where he began racking up points. Current Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo surpassed Abdul-Jabbar as the Bucks franchise all-time scoring […]

The Milwaukee Bucks have been playing some solid basketball recently. They knocked off the Eastern Conference leading Boston Celtics on Tuesday, albeit the Celtics being short-handed and they moved to within a half game of the Celtics for first place in the East standings amid an 11-game win streak. But as they looked to increase […]

With the NBA trade deadline officially in the rearview mirror, it’s now buyout season. In order for potential free agents to be eligible for the playoffs, they must have been waived or bought out by March 1. Each year, NBA teams, usually teams that aren’t doing so well, come to buyout agreements with veteran players […]

The Houston Rockets have had a forgettable season. They are currently 13-44 and at the bottom of not only the Western Conference standings but at they are at the bottom of the league standings overall. Earlier this season, the Rockets made headlines when John Wall spoke out about the apparent lack of culture and accountability […]

The Houston Rockets have been going through a season not worth remembering. At 13-44, they have not only the worst record in the Western Conference, but also the worst record in the NBA overall. On Wednesday in the Rockets game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, they received some troubling news as second-year guard Jalen Green […]

The Utah Jazz got a bit of bad news on Wednesday against the Memphis Grizzlies when Collin Sexton suffered an apparent hamstring injury and was subsequently ruled out for the remainder of the game as per the team. Sexton started the game and only played about four minutes before exiting the game. Collin Sexton (left […]

The Milwaukee Bucks pulled off a big win on Tuesday against the Boston Celtics, albeit the Celtics being without several key players. Nonetheless, the Bucks have established themselves as a roadblock for the Celtics aspirations of reaching the NBA Finals again and they’ve done so behind the stellar play of Giannis Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo has been […]

The New Orleans Pelicans were dealt a major blow over the weekend with the news that Zion Williamson suffered a setback in his attempts to get back on to the court. They were hit with another blow on Sunday when it was revealed that guard CJ McCollum is now on the injury report for Monday’s […]

Ja Morant made headlines a couple of months ago for his comments along the lines of not worrying about the rest of the Western Conference when it came to the Memphis Grizzlies’ chances to make a solid playoff run. The comments caused quite a stir and after the flurry of trades that happened at the […]

When it comes down to last minute crunch time situations, NBA teams have their go-to plays to get as best a look as they can for a potential game-winning or game-tying shot. For the Miami Heat, they ran one of those plays on Friday against the Houston Rockets. With the scored tied at 95 and […]

The Los Angeles Lakers were one of the most active teams at the NBA trade deadline in hopes of improving their roster and trying to make a postseason run. In a three-team trade including the Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz, the Lakers reacquired D’Angelo Russell whom they originally drafted with the 2nd overall pick in […]

The 2023 NBA trade deadline has come and gone and the Boston Celtics were one of the teams that was active pulling off a deal to bring in veteran shooting big man Mike Muscala. But it’s the trade they didn’t make that is now making headlines. Reserve point guard Payton Pritchard was a player whose […]

The New York Liberty pulled off arguably the biggest move of WNBA free agency with the blockbuster signing of superstar Breanna Stewart and then followed that up with the signing of veteran guard Courtney Vandersloot to add to their earlier trade of Jonquel Jones. With Sabrina Ionescu already in place, the new additions figure to […]

Jayson Tatum has been having an MVP-caliber season for the Boston Celtics. He has had multiple explosive scoring games this season and on Friday against the Charlotte Hornets, he dropped 41 points in a win. The game as his eighth game this season scoring at least 40 points and it moved him into a tie […]

The game of basketball has changed in today’s day and age. ‘Positionless’ basketball has become the norm in that players are becoming more versatile with a higher emphasis on the three-point shot and players not being pigeonholed into one position or another. Players are able to play multiple positions do different things on the court […]

The NBA trade deadline may have been on Thursday but the WNBA had some trades of their own as well. With the dust from the WNBA free agency period largely settled, teams are still in the process of filling out their rosters and looking at potential trades. The Connecticut Sun pulled off one of those […]

The Golden State Warriors made a move at the NBA trade deadline to bring back fan favorite Gary Payton II but now that move appears to be in jeopardy. The move was a four team trade that also included the Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons and Portland Trail Blazers and involved James Wiseman going to the […]

The 2023 NBA trade deadline has come and gone and the Phoenix Suns pulled off the biggest blockbuster of the week when they acquired Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets. What was even more remarkable about the trade was the Suns didn’t even have to give up any of Chris Paul, Devin Booker or Deandre […]

While there was a flurry of activity at the NBA trade deadline, the Phoenix Suns pulled off arguably the biggest and most impactful move with their addition of Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets. What was even more remarkable about the Suns trade for Kevin Durant was the fact that they didn’t even need to […]

The Houston Rockets made a long awaited move at Thursday’s NBA trade deadline when they shipped out veteran guard Eric Gordon to the Los Angeles Clippers. Gordon’s name had been mentioned in trade chatter for a while now and he was considered one of the most likely players to be traded at the NBA trade […]

The NBA trade deadline has come and gone and one of the teams who stood pat was the Chicago Bulls despite chatter that they might decide to blow things up. One player who has seen his name mentioned in trade rumors is Nikola Vucevic. As the NBA trade deadline drew near, it became more and […]