With one month of NBA action in the books, fans have seen the league making new leaps and turns that would leave past seasons in utter shock.
The most coveted award for all players, the NBA MVP, is already shaping up to be the most competitive it has ever been. With stars giving just a taste of what they’ll bring for the rest of the year, fans can confidently say this race is unlike any other. Currently, four players have been playing out of their minds, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. The NBA has reached a point where averaging a 30-point triple-double, thirty points, at least 10 rebounds, and 10 assists, will not guarantee you the trophy. Instead, you might need the greatest statistical season of all time just to be in the running.
But only these absurd stat lines can win this award if injuries don’t take down a player’s entire season. Just a couple of years ago, the NBA instituted a 65-game minimum rule that says a player can only be granted an award if they played 65 out of the 82 regular-season games. The goal was to get more stars on the floor and reduce load management. However, there are over 120 active NBA players, nearly a quarter of the league, who have been injured just one month in.
For the players who manage to stay healthy, it seems being able to put the ball in the basket has never been easier. In this first month alone, teams have scored over 130 points, 75 times. Just a couple of years ago, this threshold would only have been met around 30 times in a whole season. This year, teams have doubled that number in one month, with players easily scoring over 40 points a night. Sophomore basketball player Crosby Myers gave his thoughts on why this sudden burst in scoring is occurring.
“I think that today’s NBA, their skill is just out of this world. If you look at those 90s, they would not be able to do this. I mean, I’m not saying that they’re not great. I’m just saying that they weren’t as advanced as they’re now,” Myers said.
Last year’s NBA champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, led by last year’s MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, have been on a tear, dropping only one game so far this season. This team is built on all-stars and all-defensive players. How could this get any worse for the rest of the league? A Paul George trade that happened three years ago. The Los Angeles Clippers, in return, gave up a 2026 unprotected draft pick. Now, the 25th-ranked Clippers have the fate of the next decade of the league hanging over them, along with one of the most talented draft classes in recent history.
A new, fun development taking the league by storm is the new and improved Detroit Pistons, who in just 16 games surpassed the number of wins they had in the entire 2023-24 season, where they were a Cade Cunningham injury away from being the worst team ever. Now, many are referring to stars like Cunningham and Jalen Duren as the new modern Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant.
“You got Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson, Ron Holland, Jaden Ivey, and the obvious leader Cade Cunningham. I think the Pistons will be trouble in the East, and I do believe they will see success similar to the 80s,” junior basketball player Lucas Starks said.
Whatever has taken over this franchise is obviously working, as they sit comfortably in first in the East and are real title contenders for the 2026 season.
On a different note, the Indiana Pacers, who were just three quarters away from an NBA Championship last year, find themselves at the bottom of the NBA. The craziest part is that they suffered the least amount of changes in the offseason and are practically the same team as last year. Though they lost Myles Turner to free agency and Tyrese Haliburton to injuries, their roster continuity is at 82%. With just a grand total of six wins on the season, the player who was voted the most overrated last year, Haliburton, seems to be the difference between the Pacers being a finals team and the worst team in the NBA.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Dallas Mavericks General Manager Nico Harrison was finally fired after constant fan outrage over the controversial Luka Doncic trade last year. Though Harrison is gone, the effects of this trade will linger on the organization for years. Even with the miracle of being able to draft Cooper Flagg, Kyrie Irving being out indefinitely, and the man this trade was centered on, Anthony Davis, already being in trade discussions less than a year after joining Dallas, the franchise has gone from dueling in the finals 18 months ago to today, where a full-on rebuild is not just an idea but a real option.
Along the lines of Cooper Flagg, he and many of his fellow draftees have shown out this year in what most are calling one of the greatest drafts in the modern NBA. Flagg still holds a dominant position in the race for Rookie of the Year, but his fellow Duke teammate Kon Knueppel, Pelicans big man Derik Queen, and 76ers forward VJ Edgecombe, who dropped a historic 34 points on opening night, have all made their mark early. Myers weighed in on who he’s looking out for.
“I got to keep my eye on VJ Edgecombe. He made a statement at the first game in scoring 34 points, second most all time for a Philadelphia 76er in their debut,” Myers said.
LeBron James’ streak of scoring at least 10 points a game, which lasted over 19 years and 1,297 games, was finally snapped during a game against the Raptors. With a tied game and just eight points, James had the ball at the top of the key and could not just save the game but also save his streak. With just three seconds left, he does what he does best and swings the ball to wide-open shooter Rui Hachimura for the buzzer-beater bucket. After the game, James showed no sign of despair as he simply commented that, more importantly, they came out of Toronto with a win.
More major news is how the league’s power rankings are shaping up just one month in comparison to the preseason. The Thunder and Pistons are sitting well at the top of the mountain and look like an early example of what might be our 2026 finals matchup. The Phoenix Suns have rocketed up the board, going from 25th all the way up to eighth in the most recent power ranking. On the complete other end of the spectrum, the Clippers have slipped to number 25, as the basketball world hopes that they can turn it around. With these giant shifts throughout the league, and players rising through the ranks, the competition is at its highest it’s ever been.
“I think one big reason is pretty obvious, that they all want it. They want that Larry O’Brien trophy, they all want that championship. They want that ring. And I think they want it for their team, and I think that kind of sets them on this path for greatness for the season, ’cause they want to, accomplish something. Every team wants to accomplish something,” Starks said.
No matter what the rest of the season has in store, the one factor that every fan and analyst can bet on is that this year’s finish for the NBA Championship will be a sprint the entire way.
