Mike Vorkunov
National NBA Reporter at The Athletic
Freelance Writer at Freelance
National NBA/basketball business reporter @TheAthletic. Co-founder @30newsletter. Daily Targum/WRSU alum. @mikevorkunov.bsky.social [email protected]
Articles
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3 days ago |
nytimes.com | Mike Vorkunov
Every year, the discussion that precedes the NBA Draft focuses on the projected top picks. It makes sense. Those are the most prominent names, the largest draws, and, frankly, the players the media and fans know the most about. However, every year, the NBA serves as a reminder that not all the attention is directed in the right places — the rest of the draft matters. The draft picks outside the lottery matter. The aperture for draft conversations needs to widen.
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4 days ago |
nytimes.com | Mike Vorkunov |Jared Weiss |Fred Katz |Josh Robbins
By Fred Katz, Law Murray, Eric Nehm, Josh Robbins, Mike Vorkunov and Jared WeissThe Oklahoma City Thunder are the new kings of the NBA, and their reign figures to be a long one. OKC is a case study in roster construction, asset acquisition, short-term tactics and long-term strategy. The Thunder’s NBA Finals foe was built in a more traditional yet equally patient and prescient manner, an Indiana Pacers team that wore teams down with seemingly endless actions and breakneck pace.
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6 days ago |
nytimes.com | Mike Vorkunov
When the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers tip off in a winner-take-all game Sunday for the NBA title, it will not just be a coda to one of the most thrilling NBA seasons in recent memory. Game 7 will also be a capstone to a years-long drive by the league to make this kind of scenario possible. This is the game that the NBA has long wanted. The NBA and commissioner Adam Silver have spent the last decade trying to make things more competitive and more egalitarian.
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1 week ago |
nytimes.com | Mike Vorkunov
The Buss dynasty has reigned over the NBA since 1979, when Jerry Buss bought the Los Angeles Lakers in what has proved to be one of the shrewdest deals in sports history. Since then, the Lakers have won 11 NBA championships, employed several of the league’s most valuable and iconic players, and become the NBA’s most glamorous franchise, a magnet for ritz and success. It was bound to end at some point, but that future seemed far away. Wednesday, however, it struck like a thunderbolt.
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1 week ago |
nytimes.com | Mike Vorkunov
INDIANAPOLIS — As the Oklahoma City Thunder sit one win away from their first NBA title, there is no shortage of reasons that serve as the backbone for their success. From the franchise-altering Paul George trade to the similarly significant 2022 NBA Draft, Sam Presti and the front office have nailed a lot of big decisions.
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This was a prehistoric kind of win for the Thunder. Or at least pre-Warriors dynasty win. Their 17 3-pt FGA were the fewest in a finals game since Spurs took 16 and Heat took 12 in Game 4 of the 2013 Finals. No team has won a finals game with 3 or fewer 3s since Celtics in 2010.
Since 2000, the team that has won Game 4 in the finals has won the championship 19 times. And of the six teams that lost Game 4 and still won the finals, one was the Celtics last year and Warriors in 2017 when they were both already up 3-0 in the series.
Toppin, two straight triples, puts the Pacers up 80-72. 4:11 left in the third. Game 4's show you who will win a series. Damn near every time
RT @YaronWeitzman: “I think when you use the word ‘chaos,’ it’s for the other team. For us, I’m trying to be settling and create a rhythm a…
