Articles by Lucas Kaplan (13)
After the first 44-game season in league history, the WNBA playoffs are finally here. All four first-round series tipped off on an action-packed Sunday. While all four favorites won Game 1 — including the No. 5 seed New York Liberty, favored as the road team — we were left with much to discuss. The WNBA […]
One day after conclusion of her sophomore season, it seems likely Angel Reese has played her final game for the Chicago Sky. Following a “Keystone Cops” sequence in which she publicly demanded roster improvements heading into 2026 — lightly shading some of her teammates in the process, which led to a team-imposed half-game suspension, only […]
On August 17 of last year, following a decisive win over the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces, I wrote the New York Liberty had “the juice.” They had been talented enough from the moment Jonquel Jones, Breanna Stewart and Courtney Vandersloot arrived in New York prior to the 2023 season, but it was clear […]
At the onset of the Dallas Wings-Los Angeles Sparks contest Wednesday night, we did not immediately know an all-timer was in store. Paige Bueckers was a couple hours away from setting the WNBA rookie single-game scoring record with 44 points on a maniacal 17-of-21 shooting line. She missed two midrange jumpers, a layup and a […]
By all reporting, Kelsey Plum did not formally request a trade from the Las Vegas Aces last offseason. She didn’t have to. They were the San Antonio Stars when she got picked first overall in 2017 and eight years later, they had been through more together than just a rebrand out West. Plum struggled, failing […]
To no great surprise, the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty sit atop the WNBA standings with the 2025 season now past the halfway point. An injury-filled campaign for the defending champion Liberty has them looking up at Minnesota from the No. 2 seed. But even though home-court advantage may flip, a rematch of the […]
Courtesy of Bart Torvik’s NCAA database, here is every individual season by a teenager (since 2008) with a 25 percent usage rate, 60 percent true shooting, 20 percent assist rate and a six percent stock (block + steal) rate: Collin Murray-Boyles, South Carolina, 2024-25. That’s the whole list. Collin Murray-Boyles is 6 feet 6 inches […]
Much was made of the Jalen Williams/Shai Gilgeous-Alexander screening action the Oklahoma City Thunder used to close out Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Down the stretch of that soon-to-be immortal victory over the Indiana Pacers, Williams simply received ball-screens from Gilgeous-Alexander, who then had a much easier time scoring (or drawing fouls) on Aaron […]
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, MVP of the NBA, hunched over with the edge of his shorts clamped between his palms and tightly gripping fingers, pressing down into his knees. If the Indiana Pacers do go onto to win the 2025 NBA Finals, that should be the defining image of their Game 3, 116-107 victory over the Oklahoma […]
The Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers shook a Mentos-filled Coca Cola bottle for 42 minutes, and at last, in the final six, it exploded all over Paycom Center to give Indiana a 1-0 series lead in the NBA Finals. I’ll break down some of what we saw in that weird, rollicking Game 1, and […]