If you’re a fan of US sports, very few things can hold a candle to the magical time that is mid-late October. In terms of excellence across multiple disciplines, it’s like Deion Sanders. This week is the multi-sport star the Jaguars wish they traded all those picks for! With the NFL in full swing, the NBA season tipping off today and the World Series starting this Friday, it’s the best week in sports … and it’s not particularly close.
The magic of mid-October has already kicked into top gear, as this past weekend has delivered two performances that will – without doubt or exaggeration – go down in history. Not only did the Denver Broncos complete a 33-point, fourth quarter comeback for the ages against the New York Giants. On the same weekend, Shohei Ohtani – please excuse the low-hanging fruit – hit it out of the park, literally and figuratively, by pitching six shutout innings and striking out 10 players all while hitting three home runs in what instantly became the greatest baseball playoff performance of all time.
Having dragged Ohtani the 31 miles across the town of Los Angeles, the Dodgers have allowed the diamond in the rough prospect to turn into the superstar phenomenon that millions of baseball fans – more than a few of them in Japan – have dreamed of witnessing, and the defending champs are going back to the World Series for it. The culmination of the MLB season is starting this Friday with the best-of-seven series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays.
Having barely recovered from this weekend of excellence, sports fans are treated with the tip-off of the 2025/26 NBA season tonight. And after a summer of players movement, wheeling and dealing of contract extension, and memorable EuroBasket performances, the best basketball league on the planet is loaded with enticing story-lines going into the new campaign.
First up, the defending champs. The Thunder are the second youngest championship team in NBA history, so SGA and the boys are just getting started. They are as deep and as fierce defensively as any team in the league.
Looking down the line of the (projected) Western Conference standings, Nicola Jokić is leading a re-loaded Nuggets team that’s arguably as well suited for a run at the Larry O’Brien as it has been since Denver won their title in 2023. All the while, the game’s most promising American superstar is coming off of back-to-back Western Conference Finals appearances and according to Anthony Edwards himself he’s spent the summer learning from none other than Michael Jordan on his quest to become unstoppable … and we haven’t even left the Thunder’s division yet.
Down in Texas, two new arrivals and one exciting return are shaping the basketball fates in the Lone Star State this NBA season. While Cooper Flagg prepares to become the most impactful American rookie since Anthony Davis, ironically enough his teammate on the re-shaped Dallas Mavericks, Kevin Durant is taking one last run at the chip with a promising Rockets team down in Houston.
In the meantime, the Spurs are collecting rookies of the year like they are Pokémon cards, adding yet another promising candidate in Dylan Harper. But the main story in San Antonio is undoubtedly the return of Victor Wembanyama, after a scary blood-clot injury cut short his 2024/25 campaign. Not only has the young phenom spent his summer training with monks, among other unorthodox methods, but apparently the 21-year-old(!) has figured out how to grow horizontally, having added noticeable bulk to his 7-5 frame.
Whether it’s a grilled-cheese-based diet or just the natural way of this supernatural talent filling out his body, if Wemby continues this evolution the NBA is in big trouble. Who knows what a typical third year leap looks like for a young star of Victor’s proportions?
Now that Kawhi and company are done planting trees and LeBron James is forced to begin the Lakers’ season on the bench due to injury, the residents of Los Angeles are treated to see their other otherworldly star take the reins. The purple and gold faithful are ready to see the monster that the Harrison/Dumont brain trust has birthed in its final form. And Luka, it appears, is ready as well.
And while the West is shaping up to be an absolute slugfest, the Eastern Conference appears to be the basketball equivalent of a grab bag this season. As the Indiana Pacers are nursing injuries, the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum is uploading dunk videos, and the Philadelphia 76ers are pondering replacing the numerals in their logo with a question mark, teams in New York and Cleveland are eager to pounce on a potentially golden opportunity.
Both the Knicks and the Cavaliers are in prime positions to return to heights that each of them has been unable to reach in the current iteration of their respective franchise. For many years, the path to a spot in the NBA Finals has not been as straight-forward as it appears to be this season. But who will grab this fateful (and metaphorical) bull by the horns? All we know is: It’s not going to be the team in Chicago.
So, strap in, the best week in sports has already begun! But don’t worry, sports fans: Whoever you’re rooting for, BSTN has got you covered!
