Basketball Intelligence For 1/1/26

Best NBA Reporting And Analysis: Happy New Year Edition

Jan 01, 2026

∙ Paid

KINGS WEEKLY PODCAST: Celtics- Kings Preview
Bobby Krivitsky of Forbes.com and Hardwood Houdini joins Ray and Nick to preview the upcoming game between the Sacramento Kings and the Boston Celtics. They talk about the strong start to the season for the Celtics, their developmental successes, and the play of some of their new players, including Hugo Gonzalez and Anfernee Simons. Finally, they wrap up by previewing some of the key matchups and focus areas for each team heading into the game.

LEAGUEWIDE

January’s strength of schedule rankings
John Schuhmann, NBA.com

NBA All-Disappointment Team: Paolo, Draymond, Trae and plenty of others
John Hollinger, The Athletic

NBA Power Rankings
Andy Bailey, Bleacher Report

12 NBA Takes: What we’re looking forward to in 2026
Royce Webb, 5x5

Five NBA teams that desperately need to make a trade before the deadline
Sam Amick, The Athletic

NBA MVP’s 10 top candidates for 2025-2026 season
Ricky O’Donnell, SBNation

This list doesn’t include Jokic because (his injury is likely to cause him) to be ineligible to win the award

Nikola Jokić’s injury shows why the NBA’s 65-game rule needs to be changed
Zach Harper, The Athletic

Jokić is having a season literally nobody has done before. It feels like we say that every year with him, but we mean it even more this time. He’s leading the NBA in rebounding and assists. That’s never happened. He’s averaging nearly 30 points per game on 60 percent from the field and 40 percent from deep. That’s never happened either. And yet, this injury is likely going to end his qualification for MVP. Why? This isn’t what load management is about. It wouldn’t be what it’s about if Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Giannis Antetokounmpo or Luka Dončić were in the same situation.

BI Note: Clarification: Wilt Chamberlain is the official NBA titleholder for the 1967-68 season in rebounding and assists. Oscar Robertson led in Assists Per Game that season but, unlike today, the official league leader in most statistical categories was determined by season total, not per game. Likewise, Dave Bing won the scoring title by scoring the most total points while The Big O led the league in PPG. Coincidentally, how many games did Oscar play that season: 65! Just a few years after the 67-68 season, the Assn changed the rules to have the official league leaders determined on a per game basis, so long as the leader played in at least 70% of a team’s games (i.e. 58) or fewer if the games missed to get to 58 were assigned zero production and the player’s per game average still was the highest in the league.

Breaking down James Nnaji’s college basketball eligibility
Jeff Borzello/Myron Medcalf, ESPN