- Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs is making an early season case for MVP.
- The Los Angeles Lakers already are scrambling with injuries to Luka Dončić and LeBron James, among others.
- With Cooper Flagg, VJ Edgecombe and Dylan Harper, the rookie class of 2025 is looking strong.
The first week of the 2025-26 NBA season is through and, already, there’s no shortage of compelling story lines at work.
And, thus far, the action has been thrilling — from the double-overtime thriller between the Houston Rockets and the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, to Victor Wembanyama’s appointment viewing highlights.
Some teams, however, haven’t quite gotten the starts they wanted. The Rockets, for example, won their first game on Monday, Oct. 27, after dropping a pair of close ones.
But, the season is long, and we’re only getting started.
Here are the winners and losers from Week 1 of the 2025-26 NBA season:
WINNERS
Victor Wembanyama makes early case for MVP
It seems like every night the Spurs play, there’s a new Wemby highlight that pushes the limits of what’s possible on a basketball court. Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama, still only 21, has seen the offseason work on his body pay off. He bulked up but is moving more fluidly. His jumper is steadier and he’s not afraid to flash his range. He’s getting to the line far more often. And it’s clear he’s on his way to a stretch of defensive dominance for years to come.
He became the first player to score 100 or more points and block 15 or more shots through the first three games of a season. He actually did it with 18 blocks. In fact, heading into the third game of the season, if he alone were a team, he would’ve been tied for sixth in the league in blocks.
More importantly, the Spurs are 4-0.
What championship hangover?
The Thunder have shown no drop off after celebrating their first NBA Finals win since moving to Oklahoma City. And, once again, the Thunder are doing it on defense, leading the NBA in rating, allowing just 104.4 points per 100 possessions. All that, and consider this: the Thunder still are without star forward Jalen Williams, who is recovering from offseason wrist surgery.
The rookie class of 2025
Cooper Flagg got most of the love this offseason, but this is a deep rookie class — and one that already has key contributors. VJ Edgecombe is averaging 25 points through three games for the 76ers. Dylan Harper became the youngest guard in NBA history to post a game of 20 or more points, 5 or more rebounds, 5 or more assists and 0 turnovers.
Kon Knueppel has pitched in for the Hornets and Collin Murray-Boyles dropped 19 points off the bench Monday, Oct. 27 against the Spurs on 7-of-13 shooting.
The Miami Heat are off to the races
Before the season, NBA general managers voted Erik Spoelstra as the best head coach in the NBA. Three games in, he’s showing one of the reasons why. Spoelstra has completely overhauled Miami’s offense, unleashing the post-Jimmy Butler Heat as a transition team. One season after ranking 27th in pace, generating just 97.08 possessions per 48 minutes, Miami leads the NBA (109.67). The Heat are barely setting screens, allowing players to race out in transition, exploiting favorable matchups without letting the defense settle.
Norman Powell (24 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists) has been solid, and the Heat should be even better when Tyler Herro (foot) returns. The only question is whether it’s sustainable.
LOSERS
Rocked by gambling scandal, NBA has fans talking about wrong thing
The Rockets-Thunder season opener, as mentioned above, was a classic. Wembanyama is doing things we’ve never seen on a basketball court. Yet, most of the coverage last week focused on the explosive gambling scandals that have implicated current Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Heat guard Terry Rozier, both of whom were placed on immediate leave.
The league will have to improve its public perception and win back any eroded trust from fans. And — even if they’re cleared following what might be a lengthy legal process — Billups and Rozier might effectively see their careers end just by association.
Lakers already scrambling with injuries
It seemed like Luka Dončić — who averaged 46 points, 11.5 rebounds and 8.5 assists though Los Angeles’ first two games — would be able to shoulder the load while LeBron James (sciatica) recovered. But now Dončić will miss at least a week with finger and leg injuries. The good news for the Lakers is that neither issue appears serious.
But Gabe Vincent suffered a sprained ankle, so Austin Reaves will need to light up box scores for L.A. to remain competitive. That’s only magnified because Jaxson Hayes (knee) and Maxi Kleber (oblique) are banged up in the frontcourt.
The Rockets might have a point guard problem
Adding Kevin Durant made Houston’s offense an elite unit. Losing point guard Fred VanVleet to a torn anterior cruciate ligament showed that the Rockets might not be able to cover up their lack of point guard depth.
Houston has tried Amen Thompson at point guard, and he has looked solid at times. Center Alperen Şengün has brought up the ball at times. Backup Reed Sheppard has done it off the bench, but he’s more of a shoot-first player. Houston has plenty of talent to mask the issue, but they could certainly use a playmaker to feed Durant, Şengün and emerging forward Jabari Smith Jr.
It likely won’t be an issue in the regular season. In the playoffs, however …
The revamped Magic — and their splash addition — sputter out of the gate
Orlando, after adding Desmond Bane to bolster its shooting, was a team expected to make a jump in the wide-open East. So far, however, the Magic haven’t seen any jump at all in their offense. One season after ranking 27th in offensive rating (108.9), the Magic (1-3) are now 25th (108.1). And the same issue from last season — 3-point shooting — persists. The Magic rank 29th in the NBA, converting 3s at just a 29.1% clip.
Bane, a career 40.9% shooter from 3, is converting shots from beyond the arc at just a 27.2% rate.