The opening week of a season tends to draw plenty of reactions. Those of us who follow the NBA closely understand that the season is 82 games long and you don’t win a championship in the first week. But we are fans. We love to overreact.

There were plenty of eye-catching moments from the 36 regular season games across the league, including the New York Knicks raising their first championship banner raised at Madison Square Garden in 53 years, LeBron James making his debut with his fourth team, and Tyrese Haliburton returning to the court for the first time after missing 486 days after tearing his Achilles’ tendon.

Here are a few observations from the first week of the 2026-27 NBA season.

J-Dub injury casts dark cloud over OKC season

Oklahoma City Thunder was having a really good week until the last two minutes of their home game against the L.A. Clippers when Jalen Williams suffered a gruesome left leg injury after a mid-air collision at the basket.

“I just feel bad for him,” a visibly shaken Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said in a postgame interview while wiping tears. There was a hush in the entire arena and many of J-Dub’s teammates were either covering their eyes or were looking away.

Williams landed awkwardly on his left leg after driving to the hoop with 1:14 remaining in the final frame. He was fouled by Clippers guard Kris Dunn, who was assessed a flagrant-1 foul on the play following a review. J-Dub’s left foot was bent to the side. A Thunder staffer quickly covered it with a towel. The game was paused while he was stretchered off the floor.

“We just got to hold the fort down until he comes back,” SGA said.

Williams played in just 33 games last season, largely due to a hamstring injury. His return to health — averaging 16.5 points a game so far this season — was one of the reasons the Thunder are favored to win a second championship. Now, OKC will likely play the rest of the season without one of their main guys.

Ant-Man is having a ball with LaMelo

There were several pundits who were skeptical of Minnesota’s offseason acquisition of LaMelo Ball, including OneManFastBreak. It was one of those head-scratching moves because on the surface having two ball-dominated guards armed with strong personalities is usually a bad idea. But this is why you play the game to give a taste test on whether an experiment will work or not. So far, the Timberwolves may have boosted their championship odds.

The Timberwolves ruined Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Miami Heat debut with an impressive 131-106 victory. The T-Wolves followed it up two days later with a 115-93 win in Orlando to complete the Florida sweep. Minnesota capped their impressive opening act with a 117-94 win over the Toronto Raptors to improve to 3-0.

The addition of Ball has unlocked Anthony Edwards from a physical and emotional standpoint. Edwards doesn’t have to shoulder the offense every single possession, and LaMelo’s too-cool-for-school personality is exactly what Edwards and Timberwolves have been missing. Minnesota now plays loose, the guys on the court seem to be having more fun. Edwards genuinely likes playing with Melo (check out the handshake). He feels he has a co–pilot capable of taking over at any given moment.

Edwards’ usage rate hovers around 30%, typically ranking him among the higher-usage offensive focal points in the league. Ant-Man averages 20.2 field goal attempts per game. Expect that number to increase a few ticks because Ball will push the pace and give Edwards extra possessions. Ball’s biggest impact could be felt in crunch as defenses won’t be able to load up on Edwards.

Hollywood reshuffle: Luka loves playing for his Lakers

It turns out that the L.A. Lakers are going to be just fine without LeBron James.

The new-look Lakers, armed with a Big 3 led by Luka Doncic, are no longer shackled by LeBron’s Klutch crew. Doncic is the undisputed captain of the ship with Austin Reaves as his chief mate. And $130-million man Walker Kessler anchors the squad, tasked with improving the Lakers’ defense.

“We have a tight group. I love playing with these guys,” Doncic said after dropping 52 points against the Utah Jazz to complete a 3-0 week for the Lakers.

Luka and LeBron said all the right things while they were teammates last season. Even though LeBron said it was Luka’s team, let’s be honest here. It wasn’t going to be Luka’s team until LeBron left. Once LeBron bolted for Philadelphia, the baton was passed to Luka. And he is running with the baton.

Giannis era in South Beach off to nightmarish start

Giannis Antetokounmpo made a bold prediction prior to his first game with his new team. The Greek Freak told ESPN’s Hannah Storm while sitting alongside his new frontcourt partner Bam Adebayo that he thinks the Miami Heat will be scary good on defense.

“I think defensively it’s gonna be a nightmare for whoever try to play against us,” Giannis said.

In three games, the Heat were torched by Minnesota, Detroit, and Charlotte. Miami gave up 131 points to Minnesota, 128 to the Detroit, and 115 to Charlotte. That’s 374 points! So far teams are far from being afraid to the face the Heat defense.

The loss to the Hornets dropped the Heat to 0-3, marking the franchise’s worst season-opening stretch since 2007-08 and the first time Spoelstra has started a season with three straight defeats as head coach. Prior to the loss to Charlotte, Giannis had scored 35 points against Minnesota and 36 against Detroit in the previous two losses. He scored 14 points on just 11 shot attempts against Charlotte.

Despite saying all the right things and embracing the Heat Culture, Giannis appears to be reverting back to his old habits in Milwaukee. The Bucks were not a good defensive team during Giannis’ last few years, and that leaking defense seems to be spilling over in Miami. If the Heat don’t fix their defense, they will more than likely looking at another play-in game appearance.

Wilson, Boozer, Acuff out of the gates fast in rookie race

Caleb Wilson was the fourth player selected in the 2026 NBA draft, but he may be the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year. Three games into his pro career, the Chicago Bulls forward is putting up historical statistics. After a 16-point outing in his first game, including a troubling nine turnovers,

Wilson came back with a better performance in his second game (21 points on 7-for-14 shooting). He erupted for 30 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and didn’t commit a single turnover in his third game.

The last time a Bulls rookie enjoyed this type of three-game start was none other than Michael Jordan. Jordan scored 74 points in his first three games with the Bulls in the 1984-85 season, including 37 in his third game.

Wilson’s main competition for Rookie of the Year could come from third overall pick Cameron Boozer and seventh overall pick Darius Acuff Jr.

Memphis Grizzlies are absolutely thrilled to have Boozer. The former Duke All-American and AP National Player of the Year is fitting in nicely with his new squad and according to his coach is already looking like a 10-year veteran.

“The kid is 19, and he’s making big-time plays offensively and defensively that takes other guys 10 years in the league to figure those out,” Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo said about Boozer. “And he is a player that epitomizes that because he doesn’t need to make shots in order to help the team win.”

After a shaky debut where he went 2-for-15 from the field, Boozer bounced back with a 25-point, 14-rebound performance against the Golden State Warriors.

Despite Acuff Jr.’s inefficiency and poor shot selection, the Sacramento Kings — including his teammates Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis — are clearly behind their prized rookie.

“I told you guys from the get-go, I’m not worried about Darius at all. You guys can see how talented he is,” LaVine said following Acuff’s 33-point performance in his second NBA game.

Joel Huerto is editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. He hosts a sports podcast on YouTube @onemanfastbreak1.