Mike Vorkunov
banner
mikevorkunov.bsky.social
Mike Vorkunov
@mikevorkunov.bsky.social
National NBA + basketball reporter at The Athletic — a self-indulgent way to say I write about basketball, and its intersection with money.
Co-founder @30newsletter.bsky.social
SUBSCRIBE PLEASE: www.youtube.com/@MikeVorkunov22
[email protected]
Pinned
📺BUSINESS DECISION📺

I spoke to Overtime CEO Dan Porter about how his company, how OTE has pivoted in recent years, how to reach young audiences, what happened if TikTok was banned in America and...

He finally explains 6-7 to me! (It started at OTE)

Watch + subscribe: youtu.be/XuZJ48Bx2ys
Why 6-7, TikTok and Basketball Explain This Fascinating Sports League
YouTube video by Business Decision with Mike Vorkunov
youtu.be
They're tracking monarch butterflies to trace their patterns or migration. Science is pretty cool
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/s...
www.nytimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:28 PM
2 Suns/Mercury minority owners say Mat Ishbia used the teams as his "personal piggy bank” and tried to dilute their shares but instead risks losing his majority stake. Ishbia, through spokesman, says it's a "shameless shakedown."

Story with @doughaller.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/athletic/683...
Lawsuit claims Suns owner Mat Ishbia treated team like his ‘personal piggy bank’
Andy Kohlberg and Scott Seldin, minority owners of the Suns and Mercury, accused Ishbia of financial malfeasance in a new lawsuit.
www.nytimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Chauncey Billups pleaded not guilty Monday to two federal charges in his first appearance in federal court. Billups was arraigned at a Brooklyn courthouse and released on a $5 million bond, secured by his Colorado home and signed by his wife and one of his daughters, who came to court in support.
November 24, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Reposted by Mike Vorkunov
Two years in a row, the Wings sent Maddy Siegrist to the lottery drawing. Two years in a row, Curt Miller had plane problems on lottery weekend

Two years in a row, the Dallas Wings came away with the No. 1 pick

Full story on lottery results/implications
www.nytimes.com/athletic/683...
Dallas Wings win WNBA Draft Lottery for second straight year: Who will join Paige Bueckers?
The Minnesota Lynx land the No. 2 pick, and the Seattle Storm won the third selection. The Mystics are No. 4 and the Sky No. 5.
www.nytimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Rutgers followed up missing the NCAA Tournament with two top-5 picks by losing to Kenpom No. 298 by 13 at home. Oof.
November 22, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Hannah Hidalgo does not mess around
November 22, 2025 at 12:51 AM
College athletes, coaches and athletic department members will not be allowed to bet on sports. The NCAA rescinds its own rule from earlier this fall after 2/3 of D1 schools vote against implementing it (after all three divisions originally supported it)
The NCAA was set to allow college athletes, coaches and athletic department members to bet on pro sports starting Nov. 1 but it has now postponed the implementation of that rule until Nov. 22 and given time for its members to undo the recent rule change.
November 21, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Reposted by Mike Vorkunov
We all love Remembering Guys, but mostly it's just that Cleanthony played so much international ball that it was a good hook for a category about basketball terms in foreign languages.
"International Hoops Terms With Cleanthony Early" has to be the wildest sports category in Jeopardy! history.
November 21, 2025 at 8:20 PM
The player, Hysier Miller, bet a total of $473 on those wagers. They were all part of parlays. The NCAA started looking into it after it was made aware of suspicious sports wagering line activity on a Temple-UAB game. He bet on 23 different Temple games using other people's accounts.
A Temple men's basketball player placed 39 men bets on Temple and 3 against Temple during a 16-month period, the NCAA said after its sports gambling investigation into the program. It also found that a former assistant to the HC bet on college sports + a grad assistant bet on pro and college sports
November 21, 2025 at 8:04 PM
A Temple men's basketball player placed 39 men bets on Temple and 3 against Temple during a 16-month period, the NCAA said after its sports gambling investigation into the program. It also found that a former assistant to the HC bet on college sports + a grad assistant bet on pro and college sports
November 21, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid are some of the European clubs the NBA is considering for its European basketball league. NBA believes it can peel off EuroLeague teams despite EuroLeague saying teams are tied to it until 2036. More from NBA deputy commish www.nytimes.com/athletic/682...
NBA eyes European league featuring elite clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona
Deputy commissioner Mark Tatum says the NBA is exploring a Europe-based league with potential participation from leading EuroLeague teams.
www.nytimes.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:11 AM
The Lakers fired Joey and Jesse Buss, @danwoikesports.bsky.social and @samamick.bsky.social report.

“She’s fired everyone,” Jesse Buss told them. www.nytimes.com/athletic/682...
Lakers fire Joey, Jesse Buss from front-office positions: Sources
"I kind of felt like the writing was on the wall," Jesse Buss said in an interview with The Athletic.
www.nytimes.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Reposted by Mike Vorkunov
NEW: For weeks, a mysterious figure was embedded in the Pelicans' inner circle. The team now confirms Jordan Dumars, son of EVP Joe Dumars, is a "Basketball Operations Consultant."

My story on the opaque power structure in NOLA:
intheno.substack.com/p/pelicans-c...
The Pelicans' New Basketball Operations Consultant
As Troy Weaver runs day-to-day operations, the unexplained involvement of Joe Dumars' son adds a new layer of ambiguity to the team's chain of command
intheno.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Now there's no way Yaron will answer my gchats anymore
So this was pretty cool: A HOLLYWOOD ENDING made the "briefly noted" section of @newyorker.com!

www.newyorker.com/best-books-2...
November 20, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Reposted by Mike Vorkunov
Posted 50+ #journalismjobs, like:

• San Fran food reporter
• Director of elections
• Summer podcast intern
• 7 internships
• Soccer podcast script writer

Jobs at WSJ, The Ringer, Versant, NY Post, Sacramento Bee, Apple News, Complex, Financial Times, Hearst, and more: www.patreon.com/30newsletter
Get more from The -30- on Patreon
creating a weekly newsletter
www.patreon.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Reposted by Mike Vorkunov
You can also listen and download as a podcast at

Spotify open.spotify.com/episode/2A7m...

Apple podcasts podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

Or wherever you get podcasts
media.rss.com/business-dec...
November 19, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Wild detail in this @lukewgoldstein.bsky.social story on the incursion of private equity into youth sports: one company is not allowing parents to film their kid's hockey games so they can push their own recording/streaming service instead. Happened to a US Senator www.levernews.com/wall-street-...
November 20, 2025 at 1:08 AM
Reposted by Mike Vorkunov
How did Mark Cuban go from claiming control of basketball ops after the Mavs sale to having no more say than any other season-ticket holder?

And how much juice has Cuban regained now?

My ESPN story explains:

www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...
Nico Harrison, Mark Cuban and a 'palace coup': Inside a bitter feud for control in Dallas
Here's what led to the end of Nico Harrison's tenure with the Dallas Mavericks 11 games into the season, and how Mark Cuban was involved.
www.espn.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Reposted by Mike Vorkunov
Mark Cuban is back in the fold with the Mavericks, and told ⁦‪me‬⁩ they won’t trade Anthony Davis because ‘we want to try to win’ www.nytimes.com/athletic/682...
Mark Cuban says Mavs won't trade Anthony Davis because 'we want to try to win'
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Reposted by Mike Vorkunov
Hey I need 17 more paid subscribers to reach my end-of-2025 goal. It would be very cool if you became one of those subscribers.

www.lastnightinbasketball.com/#/portal/sub...
November 19, 2025 at 3:22 PM
The NBA moved its season back by almost 3 weeks to October 30 for the 1981-82 season to avoid competing with the MLB playoffs and World Series. That pushed the end of the regular season into mid-April for the first time.
November 19, 2025 at 5:39 PM
You can also listen and download as a podcast at

Spotify open.spotify.com/episode/2A7m...

Apple podcasts podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

Or wherever you get podcasts
media.rss.com/business-dec...
November 19, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Reposted by Mike Vorkunov
📺BUSINESS DECISION📺

I spoke to Overtime CEO Dan Porter about how his company, how OTE has pivoted in recent years, how to reach young audiences, what happened if TikTok was banned in America and...

He finally explains 6-7 to me! (It started at OTE)

Watch + subscribe: youtu.be/XuZJ48Bx2ys
Why 6-7, TikTok and Basketball Explain This Fascinating Sports League
YouTube video by Business Decision with Mike Vorkunov
youtu.be
November 18, 2025 at 5:35 PM
The NBA fined the Cleveland Cavaliers $100,000 for violating the league’s Player Participation Policy for holding Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley out of their Nov. 12 game against the Miami Heat for rest. NBA says it's a violation of its 2023-24 star rest policy.
November 18, 2025 at 8:50 PM
📺BUSINESS DECISION📺

I spoke to Overtime CEO Dan Porter about how his company, how OTE has pivoted in recent years, how to reach young audiences, what happened if TikTok was banned in America and...

He finally explains 6-7 to me! (It started at OTE)

Watch + subscribe: youtu.be/XuZJ48Bx2ys
Why 6-7, TikTok and Basketball Explain This Fascinating Sports League
YouTube video by Business Decision with Mike Vorkunov
youtu.be
November 18, 2025 at 5:35 PM