Vincent Goodwill

Joe Dumars reemerges as the NBA's head of basketball operations

One of the most decorated but low-key figures in NBA history has reemerged from the shadows to take yet another impactful position. Joe Dumars is a Hall of Fame player, NBA Finals MVP and championship executive — the first Black executive to lead a…

How COVID-19 has impacted teams preparing for the NBA draft

NBA teams are at an equal disadvantage with draft preparation as COVID-19 rages through the United States and limits the usual cadence before the biggest offseason ritual. With so much at stake — a multimillion-dollar deal for players barely removed…

NBA isn’t where it needs to be, but it's making strides in elevating Black coaches and executives

The NBA has taken a hit in recent years as the number of Black coaches has alarmingly decreased, but there’s been slight improvement in this offseason cycle — with a twist. The numbers haven’t gone up in a traditional sense, but the tandems of Black…

The NBA did what the rest of the country could not in completing its improbable season

The continued trend of Black bodies in the streets made it unlikely. The prospect of spending nearly three months on a restrictive campus made it improbable. But somehow, someway, 100 days came and went, and the NBA did what the rest of the country…

Lakers' signature defense should mute calls for an asterisk around 2020 NBA championship

Miami Heat guard Kendrick Nunn must’ve thought ghosts were around every time he weaved around the free-throw line because he flinched as he flashed by LeBron James’ outstretched arms. Apparently, he was unaware of the 6-foot-10 pterodactyl named…

The Heat survived LeBron's biggest haymaker and lived to fight another day

Nobody takes LeBron James’ biggest haymaker and lives to tell about it. When LeBron decides it’s time for a series to be over, for a championship to be won, for a bubble to burst, it happens. You shake his hand, acknowledge his greatness and add…

The unlikely role players that have the Lakers one win away from a return to glory

These Los Angeles Lakers will not go down in NBA lore or even enter the pantheon of greatest single-season championship teams, despite their names being ready to be etched on that sparkling gold trophy. It would be hard to see these Lakers beating…

While LeBron aims for GOAT status, Anthony Davis is challenging him as the NBA's best player

The Miami Heat should only feel so bad, as this bubble exhibition has shown to be Anthony Davis’ personal playpen. There is no answer for him on the floor through the first two games of the NBA Finals. Actually, with all due respect to Allen Iverson,…

If anyone can coax the best out of Simmons and Embiid, it's Doc Rivers

Doc Rivers didn’t bring the ultimate success to the Los Angeles Clippers, but he at least stopped them from being the ultimate clown show. The 76ers looked like a different type of clown show not too long ago, which means Rivers, who reportedly…

Doc Rivers’ time with Clippers is done, but they need more than just sideline help

Doc Rivers gave a faceless franchise an identity, saving it from perpetual embarrassment and crisis, and guiding the Los Angeles Clippers with a steady hand off the floor to the path of respectability. For the Clippers to go from respectable to…

Boston turned the tables in Game 5, but Miami isn’t shaken

Training camp started for the Boston Celtics one year ago in the longest season ever, making it understandable if they chose to take the easy way out and bow out to the Miami Heat. Their second-half Game 5 Eastern Conference finals blitz in Friday’s…

Tyler Herro's unexpected contributions just a portion from a day filled with frustration

The words rolled off Tyler Herro’s lips as easily as the clutch buckets released from his fingertips on a career night when asked why he selected “Black Lives Matter” on his jersey nameplate. “Because Black lives matter,” he responded without a hint…

The Heat have turned the tables on the frustrated Celtics

It didn’t take Marcus Smart’s postgame outburst to confirm the Boston Celtics are performing nothing like we expected from them but perhaps it’s good to know there’s some aggression somewhere on that team. The Miami Heat have turned what was thought…

In a series that should be a dogfight, Jimmy Butler might have the loudest bark

It was just the way the Miami Heat wanted it, precisely the way Jimmy Butler envisioned it. A dogfight in need of the biggest dog in the yard, barking the loudest, biting the hardest. The Boston Celtics won’t run away and hide from the Heat, and…

The Clippers went full Clippers in Game 5 collapse

Just when you’re ready to believe in these Los Angeles Clippers, they give you the vibes of everything this franchise has never been. It’s like they look around the locker room and see their own talent, believing teams are supposed to sign up with a…

Playoff Rondo is the ultimate wild card and he's paying off for Lakers

The last time the world saw Playoff Rondo, Rajon Rondo basked in the silence of a shocked gym in the TD Garden, a heaping of sweet revenge he was dishing out to his former franchise. That was three years ago, when Rondo was a Chicago Bull and leading…

Bucks miracle not worth jeopardizing Giannis' future in the process

When Giannis Antetokounmpo writhed in pain with a second twist of his right ankle, a season that’s had so many twists took one more turn without clarity to a conclusion. The Milwaukee Bucks staved off an embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Miami…

Steve Nash's hiring leads to more questions as Black coaches sit on the sidelines

At the intersection of relationship, privilege, Black grievances and an ugly history of NBA coaching hires sits … Steve Nash? On Thursday, the Brooklyn Nets made the stunning hire of a Hall of Fame point guard with two MVPs yet zero days on a…

As frontrunners emerge in the Giannis sweepstakes, Milwaukee's clock is ticking

The clock is ticking on everything the Milwaukee Bucks have built the last few years, a title contender facing adversity it has yet to prove it can climb from. And if they’re not careful, the clock could be ticking on their time with a homegrown MVP…

'Greek Freak' in a landslide? Why Giannis Antetokounmpo should easily win MVP

Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill reveals his ballots for NBA superlative awards for the 2019-20 season. The ballots were due before the restart of the season at Walt Disney World. The argument about Most Valuable Player bubbles up every year, with…