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The Atlanta Hawks are now 1-2 early in the 2025-26 season. In the season opener, they lost in an embarrassing fashion, allowing the Toronto Raptors to break a franchise scoring record. They were able to bounce back against the Orlando Magic, former 39th overall pick Mo Gueye‘s defense on former first overall pick Paolo Banchero indisputably a key factor in their victory. However, the increasingly shorthanded Hawks then lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second leg of their first back-to-back of the season. There’s no shame in losing to the reigning NBA champions while missing three starters (Jalen Johnson, Zaccharie Risacher, and Kristaps Porzingis). Furthermore, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is once again playing at an MVP level. Nevertheless, a week into 2025-26 and there’s one particularly intriguing trend that’s worth monitoring. Mo Gueye Is Emerging As Hawks X-Factor Entering the season, a couple of well-known players were emerging as the Hawks x-factor. At the offensive end, Luke Kennard presented as a generational marksman who could thrive alongside an elite facilitator like Trae Young. At the other end, Nickeil Alexander-Walker arrived in Atlanta looking like a godsend for their point-of-attack defense. Then there’s Johnson, a potential All-Star who spent part of his offseason training with Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, who’s already enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Defining Moments As it turns out, Atlanta’s early season x-factor has actually been Gueye.
