Court Chaos: The NBA's Crazy Opening Week
- Simar Gill
- 5 hours ago
- 4 min read
Rather than easing into the new season, the NBA exploded right out of the gate. Opening week was pure chaos in the best way possible, filled with career-high points, unexpected upsets, and viral moments that had fans glued to their screens. Superstars made statements, rookies entered with a bang, and social media erupted with viral highlights. So let's talk about the highlights of one of the best NBA opening weeks in history.
Cooper Flagg's Rookie Debut
As the No. 1 Overall Pick of the 2025 NBA Draft, fans were expecting some amazing basketball from Cooper Flagg. Although he finished with only 10 points in his first NBA game against the Spurs, Flagg was ready in his second game of the season. In a game against the Toronto Raptors, Flagg dunked over Sando Mamukelashvili and had 22 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. This solidified Flagg's role as the fifth-youngest player in NBA history to score at least 20 points in a game. After the 139-129 win over the Raptors, it'll be interesting to see how Cooper Flagg grows this season and if he can keep up with the veterans of the league. With expectations to meet, let's see if the No. 1 Pick can live up to the hype.
Shai's Career High Game
As the reigning NBA MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is at the top of the league right now. He topped expectations even further by scoring 55 points in the first week of the 2025-26 season against the Indiana Pacers in a double-overtime win. He also added 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and a block to his remarkable stat-sheet. This marked the fifth 50-point game of Shai's career, but 55 points is now the MVP's career-high, merely topping his previous record of 54 points. This seems like the peak of Shai's career, so it'll be fun to watch him dominate this season if he can keep it up.
VJ Edgecombe's Rookie Debut
As the No. 3 Overall Pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, VJ Edgecombe has been a valuable asset to the 76ers. With his debut of 34 points, his point total is the third highest in NBA history, only behind Wilt Chamberlain with 43 in 1959 and Frank Selvy with 35 in 1954. In a 117-116 win over the Boston Celtics, Edgecombe managed to break Allen Iverson's 76ers record of 30 points for most points in a debut. Even with teammate Tyrese Maxey scoring a game-high of 40 points, Edgecombe was able to help the Sixers come back from a double digit deficit in the fourth quarter and secure the win with a defensive stop. With such an impressive opening game, it'll be interesting to watch Edgecombe grow in the league and see how he impacts the race for the NBA's Rookie of the Year award.
40 Point Games
40 point games are an impressive achievement, considering the highest point total that most NBA players regularly reach is 30 points. That's what makes this season so special already because this year's opening week had sixteen 40 point games, the most in NBA history. The record before this was nine, and teams are scoring at historic rates with the league average increasing as well. A highlight from these games includes Austin Reaves of the Lakers who had two back-to-back 40+ point games without his team's stars, LeBron James and Luka Dončić by his side. Others include Anthony Edwards with 41, Giannis Antetokounmpo with 40, Jaylen Brown with 41, Jamal Murray with 43, Steph Curry with 42, Aaron Gordon with 50, and Victor Wembanyama with 40.
Wemby taking over the league
In his first regular season game in eight months, Wemby dropped a team-high 40 points. Not only is this impressive on its own, but it came after Wembanyama faced a serious health scare, a diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis, which cut his season short last year and left the star to focus on healing in the off-season. His summer was transformative and left him better both physically and mentally. Wembanyama's performance allowed the Spurs to dominate the Mavericks in a 125-92 win. Not only was he scoring a lot, but he showed refined footwork, insane blocks, and jaw-dropping dunks that made him the first player to put up 40 points with 15 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 0 turnovers since the 1977-1978 season. He also set the record for the most points scored by a player in a seasoner opener in Spurs history.
With stars and rookies producing highlight worthy plays every night, this opening week has given fans some really great basketball to enjoy. If this is how the season's starting, we're in for something special this year.
Edited by: Isabella Messerli