Wembanyama Dominates, FBI Arrests Mar Season Start

The NBA’s season-opening week was overshadowed by FBI arrests of Miami guard Terry Rozier, Portland coach Chauncey Billups and former coach/player Damon Jones in probes of illegal sports betting and alleged rigged poker games. Still, the biggest on-court story was San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama, who scored 40 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and shot over 70% in a dominant performance against the Dallas Mavericks. Wembanyama, coming off a season disrupted by a deep vein thrombosis, said he trained harder than ever over the summer and appears stronger and heavier, having shifted his game to attack the rim rather than rely on high-volume threes. That breakout vaulted him up MVP lists — with odds around +300 at several sportsbooks — and prompted analysts to suggest he could already be among the league’s elite. League observers cautioned against overreacting to one game, but many now see Wembanyama’s evolution as the primary storyline of the Spurs’ early-season outlook amid the off-court turmoil.