On Wednesday evening, the Atlanta Hawks will kick off their 2025-26 NBA season with a home game against the Toronto Raptors. This season is the most highly anticipated in years for the Hawks after their offseason additions, including trading for Kristaps Porzingis and signing Nickeil Alexander-Walker, among other moves.
Recently, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and former league MVP Steve Nash took to their “Mind the Game” podcast and gave the Hawks a ringing endorsement ahead of the new season.
“It's very sneaky, man,” said James, per Everything Georgia on X, formerly Twitter. “Adding Alexander-Walker from Minnesota, Jalen Johnson got hurt, so now he's coming back, Porzingis had a great summer… and obviously another year for Trae (Young). Dyson Daniels was up there for Defensive Player of the Year last year… you have Cleveland, you have Orlando, you have Detroit, you have the Knicks…”
“It's kind of sleepy out there,” added Nash.
An intriguing Hawks team

Atlanta Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh has spent this offseason surrounding Trae Young with by far the best supporting cast he's had in his career, one that is able to accentuate his strengths on the offensive end of the floor while covering for his defensive limitations.
Porzingis immediately becomes the most talented big man that Young has ever played with, and the Hawks are banking on continued development from Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels (who recently signed an extension with the team), and Zaccharie Risacher on the wings.
This, combined with the current injury-riddled state of the Eastern Conference, has some fans thinking that the Hawks are real threats to make a deep playoff run for the first time since their 2021 surprise trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Of course, the head of the snake is still Young, and he'll have to strike the right balance between maximizing the talent around him while still putting pressure on opposing defenses as the offensive wizard that he can be.
In any case, the Hawks and Raptors are slated to tip off on Wednesday at 7:30 PM ET.