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The beginning of the 2025–26 NBA season has been marred by an off-court scandal.
On Thursday, three current and former NBA players, including Heat guard Terry Rozier and Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups, were arrested as part of two separate gambling-related federal investigations. One of the cases involves the use of insider information to place fraudulent bets on NBA games.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver even had to address the sports betting allegations Friday during the Knicks vs. Celtics game, the league’s first regular-season game streamed on Amazon Prime Video.
“I guess I wouldn’t have predicted that my first interview on Amazon would be about sports betting, but I accept that. … I apologize to our fans that we are all dealing with now this situation,” Silver said.
Unfortunately for the league, the investigations have shifted the focus away from an exciting start to the season, including record-setting opening-night ratings, and what looks to be the new era of Victor Wembanyama.
In the first three games, the 7-foot-4 French star is averaging 33 points, 13 rebounds, and 6 blocks to lead the Spurs to a 3–0 start. And he’s producing highlight reels in every game that have gone viral.
According to the NBA, the 21-year-old Wembanyama has driven more than 203 million views across NBA social media accounts, the most among all NBA players through the first six days of the season. Steph Curry was second at 193 million.
“It’s like playing against your dad in the driveway when you’re eight years old,” Jay Bilas said about Wembanyama during San Antonio’s season opener against the Mavericks.
Wembanyama’s emergence may be the solution to a problem the league has faced for the last several years: Who is the next face of the NBA?
The NBA’s most famous stars—LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Curry—are at least 37 years old and expected to retire in the coming years. The league’s new crop of stars, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, have yet to show that they can pull in the same TV audience.
Shohei Ohtani has built the model for Wembanyama and the NBA: an international star with a skill set that has never been seen in the history of the sport. Ohtani has turned into the face of MLB, and he’s brought improved U.S. ratings and historic international buzz.
The timing of Wembanyama’s rise also mirrors that of James when he carried that mantle left by Michael Jordan.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the NBA battled similar questions about who would take over as its next star as Jordan was on his way out and ratings started to dip. Kobe Bryant helped bridge the gap before James claimed the crown.
James’s popularity surged in the 2010s, when he won two championships with the Heat and then another with the Cavaliers. But his real ascent began in his third year, the 2005–06 season. That was when he carried the Cavaliers to the playoffs for the first time in his career and placed second in MVP voting—and emerged as the next face of the league.
This year is Wembanyama’s third season, and he has the opportunity to lead the Spurs to the playoffs for the first time in his career.
Five and a half months remain in the NBA regular season, so there’s plenty of time left for the NBA to hope the betting investigations are put on the back burner and for Wembanyama to take over headlines. But the scandal’s timing is clearly not ideal for the NBA.
