The 2025-26 NBA season is only a week old and we’ve already seen historic performances, big surprises and involvement from the FBI. The season kicked off last Tuesday with an instant classic between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets. The game went to double overtime and came down to a single missed shot from the Rockets’ Jabari Smith Jr. to decide the game, with the Thunder coming out with the season’s first win. This game would prove to be prophetic of what would come over the next week.

The other game from Tuesday night between the Golden State Warriors and Denver Nuggets also went into overtime, but after four consecutive Nikola Jokic misses, Stephen Curry and the Warriors were able to eke out an opening night win. The real story of this game is Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon going for a career-high 50 points plus shooting 10/11 from 3-point range. A shooting clinic like this was fairly unprecedented for Gordon, especially considering he only became a reliable shooter a few years into his career. Over his first three seasons, the most efficiently he ever shot from beyond the arc was an abysmal 29.6%. The rest of the Nuggets team didn’t help Gordon out very much. Nikola Jokic took more shots than Gordon did and was only able to find 21 points all night. The Nuggets bounced back with a 133-113 bloodbath against the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night, featuring a more typical high-scoring Jokic performance.

In a shocking report on Thursday, just two days into the season, it came to light that multiple high-profile individuals affiliated with the NBA had been arrested by the FBI. Most notably, former player Damon Jones, current Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trailblazers head coach, Chauncey Billups had all been taken into custody under suspicion of gambling violations in separate but related cases. Rozier had been investigated by the NBA themselves last season for match fixing, but he was eventually cleared to play again without punishment. He is suspected of the same thing by the FBI, and will not return to play for the remainder of the season. Billups was arrested in connection with rigging poker games in relation with the Italian mafia. However, the details of the case indicate that the Trailblazer’s coach could have rested key players to rig games in favor of sports bettors. In a similar incident two seasons ago, Toronto Raptors center Jontay Porter was banned for life from the NBA after it was discovered that he had faked injuries to help pay off gambling debts he had accrued.

On a more positive note, this season has already featured some electric performances from young players. On opening night, Philadelphia 76ers rookie VJ Edgecombe erupted for 34 points in his debut against the Boston Celtics to help secure a 117-116 win. Former NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid played limited minutes and only chipped in four points, so the 76ers needed every single one of Edgecombe’s 34 points. Memphis Grizzlies rookie Cedric Coward had a great debut as well, putting up 14 points without missing a shot or turning the ball over all night to help push past the New Orleans Pelicans. On Sunday, he followed that up with a gorgeous 27 points that included a perfect six for six on his 3-point shots. Memphis opened the season already marred by injuries, so his contributions have been crucial to build some momentum. Washington Wizards sophomore guard Kyshawn George has opened his season averaging 20 points and nine rebounds per game, partially making true the promise he showed at the end of last season. He dragged the Wizards to their first win of the season against a tough Dallas Mavericks team with a 34-point, 11-rebound, three-block performance, with the rest of the Wizards starting lineup scoring a combined 36 points.

Across the entire league, the best player through the first week of the season has almost unanimously been Victor Wembanyama. After deep-vein thrombosis in his shoulder abruptly ended his season in 2025, the San Antonio Spurs center spent his offseason getting back into form, which included training at a Shaolin monastery in Tibet and practicing with Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon. Victor Wembanyama spent no time heating back up. He put up a ridiculous 40-point, 15-rebound dismantling of the Dallas Mavericks in his first game since February. Wembanyama’s great season has been more than just his box score — he has shown he can do at least a little bit of everything in just two games. For his defense, it’s been way more than a little bit. He put up nine blocks en route to a win over the Pelicans on Saturday, and is averaging a ridiculous six blocks per game thus far. As impressive as it still is to see a 7 feet 5 inch human doing the things he can do, it’s more impressive that he hasn’t really shown a weakness yet. Even skills that centers aren’t typically good at, such as passing and shooting, Wembanyama has shown at an elite level already. The season is still young, but until opposing teams can find any kind of weakness to exploit, it’s hard to think Victor Wembanyama will be stopped anytime soon.

In just a week, the NBA has been consistently churning out noteworthy events, and with that, many questions. Will Cedric Coward and VJ Edgecombe stay hot as the season goes on? How will the Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups controversies impact the future of the NBA? Will anyone be able to stop Victor Wembanyama? What new questions will arise with so much drama being created every single day?