NBA fans could not have asked for a better start to the 2025-26 season. Perhaps your favorite team may not be off to the best of starts, but as far as the games and product on the court go, Adam Silver and the league office have to be pleased with what they've seen as basketball fans.
Teams across the league are scoring at an insane rate in the midst of the second week of the season. Almost every team has at least one player performing at an All-Star level early in the new year, and some of the performances we've seen have been video-game-like.
There have been 16 different 40-point games by players so far this season, including four 50-point outings. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has scored the most points in a game with 55 points against the Indiana Pacers on October 23, the third day of the 2025-26 regular season.
Between Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and so many other stars, we have seen record-breaking performances to begin the new season.
Offensive numbers as a whole are up compared to the 2024-25 NBA season, and that is a direct result of more fouls being called by officials.
While the NBA is witnessing a historic start to the year with some players taking advantage of the fouls being assessed to their opponents, no changes are expected to be made by Silver and the league office, according to ESPN.
Many people in charge of league operations are constantly evaluating how the game is being played and potential changes during the course of a season. It was not too long ago when Silver and the NBA decided to slightly alter the way fouls were being called in the middle of the season, which resulted in a drop in scoring at the time.
However, no changes are expected to go into effect right now, as the league is pleased with how everything has been going. More importantly, the NBA ratings and viewership back up the fact that fans are enjoying the product.
Nearly 37 million people in the United States watched American Express NBA Tip-Off 2025 across NBC/Peacock, ESPN, and Amazon Prime Video, the most viewers for an opening week in 15 years, the league announced on Wednesday. These are incredible numbers for the NBA, especially considering that a lot of the games are now on streaming platforms.
As long as the ratings are up and people are enjoying the game, Silver and the league office have no incentive to change anything about the style of play. Everyone enjoys seeing high-scoring performances, and after what we saw during Opening Week, we should expect plenty more fireworks during the entirety of the 2025-26 season.
