LeBron James Put Up a Double-Double in His Season Debut | HOOPS, 11/19/25
LeBron started his record 23rd season in style, Detroit pushes their win streak to 11, Orlando's huge win, and more.
The Tip-Off: The NBA’s Injury Woes Continue
It’s been a packed week of injury news and it’s still only Wednesday. Tuesday morning we got word that Giannis Antetokounmpo would miss at least 1-2 weeks with a groin strain and that Spurs’ standout (and reigning ROTY) Stephon Castle would also miss time. He joins his teammates Victor Wembanyama and Dylan Harper on the shelf as San Antonio’s injuries continue to pile up.
Ahead of the Warriors’ matchup Tuesday against the Magic (who are also missing one of their All-Stars in Paolo Banchero) coach Steve Kerr took some time to speak on the subject and what the Warriors think may be happening.
“[The Warriors’ medical staff] believes that the wear and tear, the speed, the pace, the mileage is factoring into these injuries.” - Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr
And it’s true, per ESPN the pace of play this season is the fastest average since 1988-89. Players are traveling an average of 34.3 miles per game at an average speed of 4.43 MPH which would combine to be the longest distance and fastest speed since the league began tracking player performance in 2013.
Yahoo’s Tom Haberstroh laid out just how bad the injuries have been to start this season and how it compares to previous years.
Equally stark was Steve Kerr’s thoughts when asked if fewer games in a season could help reduce the number of injuries we’re seeing.
“The tricky part is all the constituents would have to agree to take less revenue. In 2025 in America, good luck in any industry. Imagine some big company saying, ‘You know what, we’re not as concerned about our stock price. We’re actually concerned with employing people and giving people a stable job and making our product better.’ That’s not happening. You know that.” - Steve Kerr on the NBA potentially reducing the 82-game schedule
Tuesday’s Games By the Numbers
We had six games on Tuesday night so here are some key numbers from each matchup.
Warriors - 113, at Magic - 121
64 - Orlando outscored Golden State 64-46 on points in the paint, making a concerted effort to attack the Warriors’ lack of a true center. Draymond Green got the start at center while Al Horford (9pts, 27 min) and Quinten Post (2pts, 12 min) tried to provide some relief off the bench. None of it worked though as a balanced Magic offense attacked the paint and the rim constantly with six separate players scoring in double digits. That the team could survive 67 combined from Jimmy Butler (33pts/7r/4a) and Stephen Curry (34pts/9a, 7 3PM) is another positive sign that they may finally be waking up after a sluggish first six weeks.
Pistons - 120, at Hawks - 112
11 - The Pistons tied their longest win streak in 18 seasons with a win over an extremely resilient Hawks team down Trae Young, Kristaps Porzingis, and Zaccharie Risacher. Atlanta had won five straight coming into the matchup and continues to punch above their weight no matter who is coming in and out of the lineup.
Fortunately we have two more regular season matchups between these teams1 and I hope everyone is healthy by then so we can see them battle at full strength.
Celtics - 113, at Nets - 99
.500 - For the first time this season, the Boston Celtics’ record sits above .500 at 8-7. They did it in pretty dramatic fashion, putting the clamps on a Brooklyn team that had kept it pretty even through the first three quarters. The fourth quarter was a completely different story though as Boston held Brooklyn to one basket for the first 10 minutes of the final quarter. It was an extremely impressive defensive performance that makes the box score look a lot less close than the game really was.
Grizzlies - 101, at Spurs - 111
21 - With Victor Wembanyama out for the next month, the Spurs got outrebounded by 21 (59-38) by the Grizzlies. Despite the disadvantage on the boards and shooting a paltry 17% to open the game, San Antonio rallied to a double-digit win despite missing Wemby, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper. That’s why you go get De’Aaron Fox (26pts) though as he and Harrison Barnes (23pts/5r) provided the steady presence the Spurs needed to come away with their second straight win.
Jazz - 126, at Lakers - 140
23 - LeBron James’ historic 23rd season is officially underway as he made his long-awaited season debut. Hampered by sciatica to start the year, James (11pts/12a) looked pretty rust-free all game, putting up an efficient double-double in 30 minutes of action. He seemed more than content with letting Luka Doncic (37pts/10a/5r/4stl) lead the way as LA used a 37-22 third quarter to finally pull away from a more than game Utah team. Keyonte George (33pts/8a) wasn’t born until 10 days after LeBron’s career began in 2003 but the third-year player showed no intimidation, attacking the Lakers all game along with Lauri Markkenan (31pts/5r).
Suns - 127, at Trail Blazers - 110
24.4% - Portland shot just 10-41 from three for a dismal 24.4% as they dropped their third straight and fifth in their last six after a hot start to the season. Devin Booker (19pts/6r/5a) got to take the fourth quarter off after Phoenix ballooned to 18 by the end of the third quarter. A strong performance by Collin Gillespie (19pts/6a) off the bench helped quell any Portland attempts at a comeback.
A New-Look NBA Countdown
Tonight marks a new era for ESPN’s NBA Countdown pregame and halftime show as ESPN announced the new team of panelists for the season.
One person you don’t see there is Stephen A. Smith, ESPN’s highest paid personality2 and someone who has been on the show since it was called NBA Shootaround in 2003.
Despite the surprise of the news, this has reportedly been the idea since Smith first re-signed with the company earlier this year. The move frees him up to make more appearances across other ESPN shows and fixtures and in Smith’s words, was something he had asked for himself during negotiations.
“In case you haven’t noticed, I got other things on my plate. I’m a busy man. Just to be clear, I’m always available because once you’re working for ESPN, you’re part of the family. And if they need me for anything, of course I’ll show back up on NBA Countdown. If they need me a few dates a year, sure. If they need me to be with the crew with Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith and Shaq and Ernie, fine.
“But it was always my intent to come off, it’s something I negotiated, so, just so we’re clear, this story is a non-story. This is not some epiphany that everybody is getting attached to that, ‘Oh my God, this just happened, and he’s being yanked off the show!’ No, it didn’t happen like that, I’m available when needed. And when I’m not needed, I got other stuff to do on my own. This was negotiated last year.”
- Stephen A. Smith on his NBA Countdown exit via Straight Shooter on Sirius XM
At the Buzzer
- NBA warns Draymond Green after altercation with Pelicans fan
- Here’s a list of every single active player that is younger than LeBron’s 23-year career
- NBA fines Cavaliers $100,000 for violating league’s Player Participation Policy related to Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley being held out Nov. 12 vs. the Heat
- LeBron Rules Out Playing, Steph “Highly Unlikely” to play in 2028 Olympics3
- Michael Jordan donates $10M to North Carolina medical center in honor of his mom
Key Games Tonight
Rockets at Cavaliers
Raptors at 76ers
Warriors at Heat
Bulls at Trail Blazers
*Key being extremely subjective here. I mostly just mean games that have some actual stakes to them or should be fun to watch on a night when there’s a packed slate.
Thank you for hanging out today, I appreciate you taking some time to read HOOPS and I hope you enjoyed it. More importantly, I hope everyone reading this is doing ok. Take care.
December 1st and March 25, 2026. Both games will be in Detroit.
SAS is believed to be making $20 million a year after signing a new five-year contract with ESPN.
This was part of the second part of Stephen Curry’s appearance on LeBron’s ‘Mind The Game’ podcast which released on Tuesday.