Basketball · NBA preseason · Week 1
LeBron settles into the 76ers and Wembanyama plays limited minutes in a first week of NBA preseason with nothing major out of it.
Every one of the 30 teams has now played at least one preseason game. LeBron James had 10 points, five assists and four rebounds in 18 minutes on his 76ers debut. Victor Wembanyama played 17 minutes in the Spurs’ opener. Giannis Antetokounmpo, AJ Dybantsa and Anthony Davis also debuted with new teams, and Utah and Memphis lost big men to injury. Desk colour labelled.
The NBA preseason opened on Saturday 3 October (US) with Miami against Toronto in Quebec City. By Friday 9 October (US), when Houston played Dallas in Macau and Memphis visited Chicago, all 30 teams had played at least once. The regular season starts on 20 October (US). Source: NBA.com / ESPN preseason schedule and results.
Desk colour: Nothing major out of it, LeBron settling into the 6ers, Wemby limited minutes (all expected). That is Anthony’s read on the week, labelled as such.
LeBron James — settling into Philadelphia
James sat out the 76ers’ preseason opener against the Knicks on 5 October as a healthy inactive, along with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey (ESPN). He made his Philadelphia debut on Thursday 8 October (US) at Brooklyn. In 18 minutes, all in the first half, he had 10 points, five assists and four rebounds. He was credited with one shot from the field, which he made, and went 8 of 8 from the free-throw line. The 76ers led 58–56 at half-time but lost 114–108 once the bench closed it out. Jaylen Brown led all scorers with 18. James, 41, joined Philadelphia this summer on a two-year minimum deal for an NBA-record 24th season, starting alongside Brown, Embiid, Maxey and VJ Edgecombe. Sources: AP via NBA.com; ESPN; NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Victor Wembanyama — limited minutes, as expected
Wembanyama started the Spurs’ opener against Atlanta on Thursday 8 October (US) and played 17 minutes. He had nine points on 3-of-6 shooting (1 of 2 from three, 2 of 4 at the line), six rebounds, an assist and a block. San Antonio kept its starters to first-half action, and the Hawks came back from 23 points down to win 123–116. Sources: CBS Sports/RotoWire; RealGM box score.
Debuts with new teams
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Miami): In his first game for the Heat after the trade from Milwaukee, Antetokounmpo played 14 minutes in a 129–105 win over Toronto in Quebec City. He scored nine points on 3-of-3 shooting with four rebounds and seven assists. Kawhi Leonard did not play for the Raptors. Sources: NBA.com game summary; Bleacher Report; SI.
AJ Dybantsa and Anthony Davis (Washington): The 2026 No. 1 pick started alongside Davis and Trae Young in a 111–109 win over the champion Knicks. Dybantsa had 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting and four steals in 23 minutes. Davis, who had not played since 8 January and had yet to play for Washington since his trade, had 16 points and seven rebounds. Sources: RotoWire; Bleacher Report.
Rookie standouts in Sacramento and Los Angeles: Kings first-round pick Darius Acuff Jr. started his debut against the Lakers and scored 19 points with four assists, though he also had five turnovers. Lakers rookie Cameron Carr matched him with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting in a 127–103 Lakers win. Source: SI.
Injuries to note (sourced only)
Jusuf Nurkic (Utah, right foot): The Jazz confirmed Nurkic has a partial plantar plate tear of the second toe on his right foot and will be re-evaluated in four weeks. Source: Hoops Rumors citing the Jazz and Chris Haynes.
Isaiah Stewart (Memphis, left ankle): Stewart sprained his left ankle in the first quarter of his Grizzlies debut on 5 October. The team called it a moderate sprain and said he will be re-evaluated in two weeks. Source: Grizzlies medical update via Roundtable/The Commercial Appeal.
Miles Bridges (Phoenix, ankle): Bridges rolled his ankle against Chicago on 7 October and did not return. Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro reported it is not expected to be serious, though Phoenix could hold him out of Saturday’s game against San Antonio as a precaution. Source: Arizona Sports.
Matas Buzelis (Chicago, right ankle): Buzelis left Friday’s 104–100 loss to Memphis with a sore right ankle after 12 minutes. Coach Tiago Splitter said he had no further update. “It’s not bad, it’s just being smart,” Buzelis said. Source: BasketNews.
What this item is not
There are no invented diagnoses, return timelines or rankings here. The re-evaluation windows for Nurkic and Stewart are the teams’ own. Preseason minutes are what the box scores show, not a forecast of regular-season roles. Anthony’s view that nothing major came out of the week, that LeBron is settling into Philadelphia and that Wemby’s limited minutes were expected is labelled desk colour.
Sources: NBA.com / AP (James 10 pts, 5 ast, 4 reb, 18 min; 1-1 FG, 8-8 FT; 24th season; two-year minimum deal; starting lineup); ESPN; ESPN (James, Embiid, Maxey sit opener); NBC Sports Philadelphia (final 114–108; Brown 18); CBS Sports/RotoWire and RealGM box score (Wembanyama 17 min, 9/6/1/1; Hawks 123–116); NBA.com Heat–Raptors and Bleacher Report (Antetokounmpo debut); RotoWire and Bleacher Report (Dybantsa, Davis, Wizards 111–109); SI (Acuff, Carr); Hoops Rumors (Nurkic); Roundtable (Stewart); Arizona Sports (Bridges); BasketNews (Buzelis). Desk colour labelled.