The Red & White

As the 2025-26 NBA season tips off, fans all over the world are excited for an eventful season, especially NBA fans here at St. George’s. The off-season provided us with blockbuster trades, an outstanding draft class, and a bunch of overall changes across the league. 

Here at St. George’s, we decided to see how our own students are feeling about this year’s NBA season by sending out a survey to see which teams, players, and rookies are catching the most attention, and the results may surprise you. The fan favorite team is the Celtics, with 52% of the 56 people who filled out the survey voted them as their favorite team. A not-so-close second and third being the Warriors and Knicks, with 12% and 10% of the votes. With that being said, the most voted favorite player was none other than Jayson Tatum, drawing in  25% of the votes. “I love Jayson Tatum. I’ve been a fan ever since I watched him play in 8th grade!” said Samantha Phillips ’27, echoing the beliefs of many at this school. Second place goes to Steph Curry, and third goes to Ja Morant. The three rookies most recognized by students were Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, and Hansen Yang. Some even voted for our very own Dwayne Chess, who is not yet in the NBA, but hopefully can be featured in the 2027-2030 rendition of this article. 

Some major trades were made this offseason, the most notable being Phoenix superstar Kevin Durant traded to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Dillon Brooks, Jalen Green, and the number 10 pick in the 2025 draft. This will be the veteran player’s 18th season in the NBA on his fifth team. A trade that may hurt the hearts of many among a student body packed with Celtics supporters is Kristaps Porziņġis and Jrue Holiday, two key starters, leaving Boston and reshaping the Celtics roster. The Celtics received guard Anfernee Simons from Portland and George Niang from the Hawks. To many, this trade doesn’t make a lot of sense. Why trade two of your best players for a couple of role players? The answer all leads back to money. By trading two highly paid players, the Celtics regain financial and roster flexibility because they drop under the NBA’s second luxury tax apron. Gladly, the Celtics are still led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, so they should be in good enough shape. 

So which players and teams should you look out for? Last year’s champions, OKC, are projected to remain one of the strongest teams in the NBA. Led by Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Chet Holmgren, and Jaylen Williams, this youthful team looks ready to compete and possibly go back-to-back as finals champions. As for players, rookie VJ Edgecombe is already showing signs of great success after scoring 34 points in his NBA debut on October 22nd. 

With superstar trades, promising rookies, and fan loyalties split across the league, the 2025-2026 season is shaping up to be remarkable. Whether you’re backing the Celtics or taking a gamble on an underdog team, the tip-off is only the beginning.