One week into the 2025–26 NBA season, the league already feels like it has been tossed into a blender. Scandals off the floor, scoring explosions on it, surprise teams rising, contenders wobbling, rookies thriving, and veterans stumbling. The NBA has sprinted into the season with more drama and brilliance than anyone expected.
The turbulence began off the court, where investigations into illegal betting and a rigged poker ring pushed front offices into a defensive and unusually cautious posture. It was continued by rumors around the likely implementation of stricter injury-reporting rules around the league. Yet while the league office navigates the off-court mess, the players have been unleashing nightly firestorms. Helped by additional whistles, more free throws, and a level of offensive aggression that makes each night feel like a track meet, scoring has jumped to an average of 118 points per game, the highest through the first week since 1961. 16 players have already tallied 40-point games, and the pace feels almost doubled, as if every player arrived locked in from day one.
No one has embodied that sense of inevitability more than Victor Wembanyama. The 7-foot-4 phenom has clearly decided to shed his old habit of drifting around the perimeter and instead bend games from the inside out. The barrage of threes he took last season has vanished, replaced by sweeping strides through the paint, delicate hesitations in the midrange, and fluid drives that make defenders look stuck in another tempo entirely. He no longer resembles a tall shooter experimenting with his identity. He now plays like a natural force, and the undefeated Spurs already orbit around him.
This early spark is not limited to returning stars. The 2025 rookie class has landed in the league with a level of maturity that feels rare. Dylan Harper and VJ Edgecombe look as if they have been in the league for years. Kon Knueppel has settled into a meaningful role for the Charlotte Hornets almost immediately. The second round pick has produced unexpected contributors, including Ryan Kalkbrenner stabilizing the Hornets’ center rotation and Sion James giving Charlotte much-needed physicality on the wing. The most surprising newcomer is Memphis forward Cedric Coward, who had barely started his college career before an injury derailed his final season. He now carries himself with the quiet composure of a polished veteran, a revelation for a team already dealing with an avalanche of injuries.
Similar problems with injuries have tested several teams early. Indiana is scrambling, the New York Knicks have lost the health advantage that carried them last year, and the Lakers may be the most strained of all, playing without both LeBron James and Luka Doncic. That absence created the week’s most cinematic run, with Austin Reaves erupting for 51 points in Sacramento and then 41 more in Portland. Reaves moves as if guided by an internal rhythm, gliding and recalibrating in real time, each action flowing into the next like an improvised melody. With the Lakers’ stars out, Reaves has been asked to generate a tremendous amount of offense, and he has responded in a way that suggests his market value will rise quickly once summer arrives.
Surprises dominate the standings. The Sixers and Bulls, two teams widely expected to drift near the bottom of the East, opened undefeated. Philadelphia has played without Paul George and sophomore guard Jared McCain and with an injury-limited Joel Embiid, yet the Maxey-Edgecombe backcourt has established a fearless tempo that makes the offense hum far earlier than expected. Chicago, long trapped in a cycle of near .500 seasons, pieced together wins against three Eastern contenders and looks suddenly revived. The defending champion Thunder jumped to 5–0, even while waiting for the return of Jalen Williams as he regains shooting feel in his surgically repaired wrist.
One of the clearest stylistic transformations is unfolding in Miami. Erik Spoelstra has effectively installed a new offensive system that prioritizes motion, pace, and improvisation while nearly abandoning traditional pick and rolls altogether. The scheme resembles experimental sets seen in Memphis last season, though Miami’s personnel appears far better suited for it. Jaime Jaquez Jr. has emerged as a versatile offensive hub, while Bam Adebayo is adjusting to life outside his old dribble-handoff-heavy role. The Heat has run more than any team in the league, and the shift away from structure toward momentum has made their games feel loose, dynamic, and unexpectedly fun. Their roster is built on wings who can handle and make decisions on the move, and their system finally reflects that.
All of this on-court chaos plays out as the NBA undergoes a significant business shakeup. The league approved the Lakers’ sale to Mark Walter’s group, valuing the franchise at more than 10 billion dollars. Jeanie Buss will remain governor for at least five years, but it’s worth paying closer attention to something else: the uncertain future of the Lakers’ local TV partner, Spectrum SportsNet. With regional sports networks collapsing nationwide, many executives now believe that by 2027 local rights may be consolidated into national or league-wide streaming packages. If the Lakers lose or reduce the revenue generated by their local TV deal, it could create financial ripples across the entire NBA.
Still, for all the noise and maneuvering behind the scenes, the heart of this opening week has been basketball itself: vibrant, unpredictable, and full of momentum. These seven days have unfolded like a poem in motion. Wembanyama stretches space as if it were elastic. Rookies attack as if unaware of fear. Reaves has stitched together back-to-back scoring epics to keep the Lakers afloat. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has drifted through two overtimes and emerged with a 55-point masterpiece. Every night adds a new stanza, a fresh moment of artistry, and a reminder that the sport is at its best when its talent is allowed to breathe.
If this first week is any indication, the season will not be orderly. Like all compelling performances, it will surge, wobble, accelerate, and surprise. The league has already found its rhythm, and the rest of us are simply trying to keep pace with the music.
