Broken records, viral moments, rivalries, scandals and great returns. All a part of the magic of the 2025-26 NBA season.Including the playoffs, there are more than 1,200 games in a season, giving NBA fans no shortage of memorable moments to choose from. Debates are part of the fun in being a hoops fan, so we anticipate your list won’t look exactly like ours. Whether you’re a longtime fan or someone just catching up on the season’s biggest storylines while we’re awaiting the NBA Finals matchup, we’ve got you covered.Here’s a look back at 10 of the most noteworthy stories from this season (so far!):Bam Adebayo didn’t score 100 points like Wilt Chamberlain, but his 83 against the Washington Wizards was enough to warrant his own photo opportunity. (Issac Baldizon / NBAE via Getty Images)Bam scores 83, passes Kobe’s 81 for second in most pointsBam Adebayo is a three-time All-Star, has won two Olympic gold medals and has played in two NBA Finals. He’s only averaged 20 points or more twice in his nine NBA seasons with a career high of 41 points prior to this season.That’s what made March 10 in Miami so unexpected.Adebayo scored 83 points in a win over the woeful Washington Wizards. It’s the second-most points scored in a game in NBA history, passing Kobe Bryant’s 81 in 2006 and trailing only Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points in 1962.Adebayo was praised by some, but the method — intentional fouling by Miami to get more possessions — was also criticized. Nevertheless, it’s still Wilt, Bam and Kobe in the single-game scoring ranks.SGA breaks Wilt’s consecutive 20-point-game recordWhether it was his midrange game, getting to the basket or piling up free throws, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did enough all season to surpass Chamberlain’s record of consecutive 20-point regular season games.Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points and tied Chamberlain’s record of 126 consecutive games on March 9 in a win against the Denver Nuggets. Three days later, Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 35 points — including 14 in the fourth quarter and two pull-up jumpers in the final minute — to beat the Boston Celtics and break Chamberlain’s record.Gilgeous-Alexander ended the regular season with his streak at 140 games. He remains a central point in the “ethical” basketball discussion, as some feel he’s acted and flopped his way to this mark. But this kind of consistency isn’t an accident or a matter of foul baiting. It’s a player who has produced at a high level, no matter how “unethical” it looks.Gilgeous-Alexander will look to continue the regular-season streak next season after being held below 20 points three times during this postseason.Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel, college teammates and roommates at Duke, were the frontrunners of one of the NBA’s closest Rookie of the Year races in years. (Sam Hodde / Getty Images)Cooper vs. Kon, Jan. 29: A showcase of rookiesOne Duke product (Flagg) was supposed to be the Dallas Mavericks’ next big thing. The other (Knueppel) surprisingly put himself into the Rookie of the Year race with his long-distance shooting, making a rookie-record regular-season 273 3s, leading the NBA in the category and helping the Charlotte Hornets push for a postseason spot.The former college teammates and roommates faced off Jan. 29 in a record-setting game in which Knueppel hit game-winning free throws in a 123-121 victory for the Hornets. Knueppel, 20, finished with 34 points and a franchise-record eight 3s. The 19-year-old Flagg had 49 points for the Mavericks, an NBA record for a teenager. It also was the first time the former Blue Devils played against each other in the NBA.The 83 combined points were the most by two rookies since Tiny Archibald and Pete Maravich collectively tallied 91 in 1971.Flagg, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, showed the makings of a superstar and won Rookie of the Year. He averaged 21 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists and posted stats by a teenager that haven’t been seen since LeBron James. He’s the youngest player to score at least 50 points and is second-youngest Rookie of the Year, behind James.Knueppel, the fourth pick in the draft, finished second in Rookie of the Year voting by only 26 points (he had 44 first-place votes to Flagg’s 56). Knueppel averaged 18.5 points and 5.3 rebounds for the Hornets while shooting 42.5 percent from 3-point range.Tatum returns ahead of schedule for BostonIt was an emotional return for Boston Celtics star and franchise cornerstone Jayson Tatum when made his season debut at TD Garden on March 6 against the Mavericks — almost 10 months after suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon.Tatum had been sidelined for 298 days recovering the injury that happened during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2025. In his return, he accounted for 15 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in 27 minutes of play.In 16 regular-season games and six playoff games this season, Tatum averaged 22.2 points, 9.9 rebounds and 5.7 assists and shot 42.8 percent from the field. The Celtics hopes for a championship were eliminated by the Philadelphia 76ers, but Tatum’s return was remarkable.“It was cool, man,” Celtics teammate Sam Hauser said after the game. “No one in here knows what he was going through, just based off experience. But I can only imagine how hard it was in certain times. He probably felt isolated and lonely, but the fact that he was on every trip with us, he was in film sessions, he was at practices, I think it helped him still feel part of the team. And we did our best to keep him included as well.”The Clippers, Aspiration and a PulitzerAn investigation by the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast revealed that California-based environmental company Aspiration agreed to pay LA Clippers star Kawhi Leonard $28 million in a sponsorship deal that resulted in Leonard doing no visible work for the company. Torre’s team, and later The Athletic, dug into the connections between Aspiration and Clippers’ billionaire owner Steve Ballmer, who had invested $60 million in the company, and the NBA announced an investigation to determine whether Ballmer and the Clippers circumvented salary cap rules.The league has yet to announce the results of the investigation. Leonard had an All-Star season, but the Clippers traded James Harden and missed the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Torre podcast won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in audio reporting for their efforts.Never forget the couple in IndianaYou never know when you might get caught by the camera while attending a game. Two Indiana Pacers fans, identified as Grace and Michael, were caught on camera having a heated discussion in which Grace looked annoyed.Her “What the f— are you talking about?” response during the exchange went viral on social media with many wondering what they were talking about, with some finding the moment completely relatable. It turned out to not be an argument but more of a conversation about liberal arts education.The couple was the talk of social media for days, as people found them far more interesting than the game between the Pacers and Brooklyn Nets. Grace and Michael even ended up with an appearance on “Inside the NBA.”Tempers flared in February between Charlotte’s Moussa Diabate and Detroit’s Jalen Duren. Four players were ejected as a result. (David Jensen / Getty Images)Those times when things got heatedWhat’s an NBA season without a little beef?We saw a few rivalries — some acknowledged, some not — that really brought the energy. One was the highly physical matchup between Denver Nuggets All-Star Nikola Jokić and Oklahoma City Thunder forward Luguentz Dort in February when one play put fire in the eyes of Jokić.The fourth-quarter altercation, which also included the Thunder’s Jaylin Williams, resulted in Dort being ejected and Jokić and Williams receiving technical fouls. The ultimate result was Dort admitting that he “went over the limit.”In February, fans watched a dustup between the Detroit Pistons and the Charlotte Hornets. Four players were ejected after Detroit’s Jalen Duren and Charlotte’s Moussa Diabaté were involved in a fracas.And then there’s the Chet Holmgren-Victor Wembanyama rivalry on the court, which is being played out in the Western Conference finals between the Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs. It’s been brewing for a while — though neither player will directly address it as such.“I don’t think about that. At least from a basketball standpoint, there’s no comparison (between us),” Wemby said in December after the Spurs’ victory over the Thunder on Dec 23.That type of energy is what some people yearn for.Damian Lillard didn’t play in an NBA game this season, but he managed to recover enough from an Achilles injury to compete in the NBA 3-Point Contest during All-Star Weekend and won his third title. (Kirby Lee / Imagn Images)Dame Time: An All-Star spectacleNine-time All-Star Damian Lillard received a raucous applause when he returned to the court for the NBA 3-Point Contest during the 2026 All-Star Weekend in Inglewood, Calif., where he won his third title.Lillard hadn’t played the entire season, as he’s been rehabbing a torn left Achilles sustained in Game 4 of the Milwaukee Bucks’ first-round series against the Indiana Pacers last season. But the nine-time All-Star made news after the NBA announced Lillard would be a participant six days before the contest.This year included an eight-player field of Lillard, Knueppel, Donovan Mitchell, Jamal Murray, Norman Powell, Bobby Portis, Tyrese Maxey and Devin Booker. Lillard scored 27 points in the first round — tying him for second with Knueppel behind Booker’s 30 — and 29 in the championship round. He joined Larry Bird and Craig Hodges as the only three-time champions.“Every day, I’m up early in the morning warming up and shooting the ball, off the dribble, catch-and-shoot, every style of shot you can shoot. I’m shooting them every day, hundreds of ’em,” Lillard said. “I knew that this would not be an issue for me. I can’t say I knew that I would win, ’cause you just never know. But I knew I would be able to be strong out there and have a chance.“I came in confident.”Knicks taking it back to 1999Mike Brown’s coaching once was being questioned after his New York Knicks trailed the Atlanta Hawks 2-1 in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Knicks nearly overcame an 18-point deficit in Game 3 but lost 109-108 on April 23.That was the last time the Knicks have been defeated this postseason.New York has won 11 straight and now has championship aspirations after winning the Eastern Conference and earning its first NBA Finals berth since 1999. That New York is in the NBA Finals isn’t as surprising as the relative ease in which it’s happened.The Knicks’ average margin of victory in series-clinching games is 39.3 points. They handed the Hawks a 51-point loss in Game 6. They swept Philadelphia and won Game 4 by 30. From there, New York advanced to the finals via sweep and beat the Cleveland Cavaliers by 37 points in Game 4.Jalen Brunson’s popularity continues to grow in New York, Mikal Bridges has stepped up and the team has become an offensive force, unlike previous seasons. The Knicks are locked in, scoring at least 120 points in six of their 14 playoff games. Defensively, the Knicks may be even scarier, holding their postseason opponents to less than 100 points seven out of 14 times.The Knicks haven’t won an NBA championship since 1973 and are expected to be underdogs in the finals, but their turnaround in the playoffs and fun personalities might make them a fan favorite.San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama and Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren are among the centerpieces of a budding rivalry between two Western Conference titans. (Alonzo Adams / Imagn Images)Western Conference rivalry in the makingFor all the chatter about the Thunder and Spurs being rivals, there were some important things to remember.The Thunder won the 2025 NBA championship. This version of the Spurs had yet to make the playoffs. The franchises hadn’t met since 2016 in the postseason, where rivalries are often born to intensify. The Spurs had success against the Thunder in the regular season, but repeating that in the playoffs would not be as simple.San Antonio beat the Thunder, 122-115, in double overtime at Paycom Center in a contest that featured comebacks by both teams late and a legendary stat line from Victor Wembanyama (41 points, 24 rebounds, three blocks and a deep 3-pointer to tie the game in the first OT). It also featured Alex Caruso providing an unexpected 31 points for the Thunder, including eight made 3s.By the time the game ended, there was already discussion as to whether it was the best Game 1 of a conference finals ever. The game was a perfect preview of what a future rivalry could look like, one that will be fun to watch for all NBA fans.