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October 21, 2025

Oct. 21, 2025, 2:15 PM EDTBy Andrew Greif and Rohan NadkarniCue “Roundball Rock” — the NBA is back. The 2025-26 season opens Tuesday with a doubleheader on NBC and Peacock — backed by the percussive theme song last heard in 2002, when NBC last had broadcast rights — from Oklahoma City, where the Thunder will receive their championship rings, and Los Angeles, before opening league-wide in the coming days.This season will be a collision between youth and experience. In June, the Thunder became the youngest team to win a title since the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers. To do it again, however, they will have to go through opponents led by veteran superstars including Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Houston’s Kevin Durant, Golden State’s Steph Curry, LeBron James of the Lakers and Kawhi Leonard and James Harden of the Clippers. “Everybody is saying ‘defending,’ but we’re trying to be on the offensive as well,” Oklahoma City star Jalen Williams said during preseason. “So we’re coming in with more motivation to do that every year.”NBC News reporters Rohan Nadkarni and Andrew Greif and three-time NBA champion Danny Green discuss what they are watching for as the season begins.Who is your MVP pick and why?Green: I’m going to go with Nikola Jokić. He had an unbelievable year last year but they didn’t want to give him his fourth one. This year he comes back on a tear and makes the league give him his fourth MVP. Denver has a really good squad this year, and I feel like they’re going to be one of those teams at the top. The only thing that kind of hurt him last year was not being one of the top-seeded teams. They’re going to be a top-three seed this year. They have really good squad, if they stay healthy. But I’m seeing Jokić coming back with a vengeance, because people didn’t want to give him his fourth.I remember playing him in San Antonio, even when I was in Toronto, he wasn’t MVP Jokić just yet. But I remember those times when we didn’t guard him with the double team like we should have. We had certain guys on him that probably shouldn’t have guarded him. We had Kawhi [Leonard] guard him at one point. That’s definitely a mismatch. Myself, I’ve tried to guard him enough times. He was very good at drawing fouls, but his passing ability has been unbelievable since then. He was obviously a good passer, but he’s become one of the best passers the game has seen. And then, of course, how he can score the ball.Nadkarni: Give me the player who has finished first or second in MVP voting in each of the last five seasons: Nikola Jokić. The Joker arguably should have won the award in 2025, when he averaged 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists per game while shooting 57.6% from the field. Voter fatigue, whether voters want to admit it or not, is certainly a factor here. But Jokić’s brilliance is undeniable, and after the Nuggets beefed up their rotation with a series of smart moves in the summer, Denver should have the team success to give a boost to Jokić’s case. Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers during a preseason game against the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 14.Kelsey Grant / Getty ImagesGreif: Is there any player seemingly more intent on seeking revenge than the Lakers’ Luka Doncic? After last season’s stunning trade from Dallas, the Mavericks seemed intent on telling anyone who asked that his body wasn’t right. Luka has since acknowledged that the out-of-nowhere nature of the trade left his head not in quite the right place, either. Now, he’s entering his first full season with Los Angeles in much better shape and with the security of both a contract extension and the knowledge that the franchise is effectively building around him. Who is your championship pick?Green: OKC. You have to give them that respect. Getting everybody back and being the best team last year. What impressed me last year was how mature they were or how fast they grew up. Usually you got to take a year of getting your lumps. I still thought they were very green, and they needed some more maturity or another year of taking lumps before they could do it. But to see them grow up in real time and actually bounce back. And Shai being the leader that he is for them, showing mental toughness through fatigue. I thought he ran out of gas in that Finals. There was a very pivotal game in Indiana where they needed to win to even the series. He had some big buckets toward the end of the game, but you can tell him from the start of the game — like he was off the ball. He was jogging, he was trying to conserve his energy. And he did, rightfully so. But that was that was a key, mature moment for him and for that group to get through that game four and even out the series.Nadkarni: Well, if I’m picking Jokić to win MVP, I’m going to double down and pick the Nuggets to win the Finals. Is this partly wishful thinking? Perhaps. But it feels harder than ever to repeat in the NBA. And as much of a juggernaut the Thunder were last season, they were still pushed to seven games twice in the playoffs. (Oklahoma City also benefitted from one of the most unfortunate injuries in recent league history when Tyrese Haliburton tore his Achilles in Game 7 of the Finals.) This isn’t an anti-OKC case, though. It’s more about what the Nuggets did in the offseason. Cam Johnson is a better fit than Michael Porter Jr. Jonas Valanciunas is an actual, honest-to-god backup center. Bruce Brown is more steady than Russell Westbrook. In most playoff series, Denver should not only have the best player, but actual playable depth the team didn’t have last year. Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shoots against Minnesota Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker on May 26 in Minneapolis.Matt Krohn / AP fileGreif: The NBA hasn’t had a repeat champion since 2018, a run of seven consecutive seasons with seven different winners. Given every major contributor returns from last season’s title team, Oklahoma City appears as heavy a favorite as we have seen in some time. They’re an incredible team that will be fortified by the confidence of knowing what it takes to win. But so does Denver, from 2023. The Nuggets gave the Thunder their hardest matchup of the postseason of any West team, then spent the offseason getting deeper. For as difficult a time as I had splitting hairs between these two teams, I had an even more difficult time arguing against Nikola Jokic, and Denver’s home-court advantage. Denver over New York for the title.What is one offseason acquisition you’re most excited to see?Green: There’s a couple guys I’m biased to see I was teammates of. I’m a Desmond Bane fan and his situation in Orlando. I’m excited to see what some of my old teams can do this year. The San Antonio Spurs. I want to see Wemby and De’Aaron Fox together, and then of course Dylan Harper, the new draftee. And even though Dallas is not a former team of mine, I want to see when Kyrie comes back, what the Mavericks look like and with him and Anthony Davis. I’m interested to see what Houston does with Kevin Durant, but I think Fred VanVleet was a big key to that. With him going down, that’s tough for them. Nadkarni: Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets are a match made in NBA nerd heaven. Giving the rough-and-tumble, defensively charged Rockets one of the greatest scorers of all time is going to be incredibly fun to watch. Coach Ime Udoka will get to play mad scientist during the regular season, figuring out the best lineup combinations to unleash his roster’s unique blend of athleticism and size. Houston so clearly needed a halfcourt bucket getter in the playoffs last season, and it added someone who is going to the Hall of Fame because of that very trait. As a bonus, we may also get a chance to see Durant try to take down some of his old teammates and longtime rivals in a loaded West? I can’t wait to see him give the Rockets an extra dose of swagger. Greif: Golden State is in the waning years of viable championship contention with Steph Curry now 37 and Draymond Green 35. Every season counts. How they attempt to maximize this one is particularly fascinating. Notable offseason signings include Al Horford, a 39-year-old forward who remains durable and effective. On this team of elders, one of the few young potential bright spots is Jonathan Kuminga, but the relationship has been strained between the 23-year-old who views himself as an All-Star-caliber piece and an organization and its coach who have been reluctant to give him big minutes in the past or money this offseason. A free-agency negotiation that dragged on for months and whose details became unusually public was only resolved before training camp, when Kuminga agreed to a deal that could be flipped into a trade. There is talent here but the length of the dug-in negotiations hinted at tension. Getting another team to offer something significant in return for Kuminga will require him playing well. But if he gets such opportunities, how will he take advantage of them? What player should fans keep an eye on?Green: Cade Cunningham may be a household name now, but I feel like he’s going to be one of those guys that could be in the All-NBA First Team or MVP conversation. He’s another mature kid. He’s beyond his years. He’s obviously an unbelievable talent, but the way that he’s progressed in his first three or four years has been unbelievable. In the playoffs last season, he showed some maturity, but he also showed some signs of, ‘I need to learn.’ And I think he’s going to take those things back to the drawing board and come back with a chip on his shoulder. That was a series that I felt like Detroit had a chance. Obviously, there was a missed call or so, but even with that, I feel like they had a chance. They’ll come back different. Nadkarni: Once one of the most-hyped players entering the NBA, Lonzo Ball’s career has been beset by injuries. After missing two straight regular seasons, Ball returned in 2024-25 to play in 35 games for the Chicago Bulls. In July, Ball was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he could be a perfect fit on a team with title aspirations. Before the injuries, Ball had blossomed into such a good player, hitting a good percentage of his outside shots on high volume, making plays for his teammates and defending multiple positions. With Darius Garland recovering from toe surgery, Ball could get a great opportunity to make an impact for the Cavs. If he can regain his previous form, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him closing big games. Greif: When it comes to promising young NBA talents worth tracking, there are almost too many. But may we interest you in Toumani? Obsessive basketball fans have been noticing Toumani Camara’s potential for two seasons, since he was a throw-in by Phoenix to a larger trade and sent to Portland, where he blossomed into a 6-foot-7 terror on the defensive end. He’s one of the league’s best and most versatile wings on that end, but there is still time to join the Trail Blazer wing’s bandwagon, however. At only 25, Camara could make an offensive leap forward this season. Most likely to exceed expectations?Green: Indiana. Even with Haliburton being out, they’re still going to be pretty solid. They still have some great point guards, with Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell. I’m very impressed with what Rick Carlisle has done throughout the years, to adapt and adjust, that’s what makes him a basketball genius. He has a beautiful mind even outside the game. He’s very much well respected throughout the league. Indiana has a really good team. They have some great guys who can hoop — Pascal Siakam is unbelievable — and a team camaraderie. There’s a reason why Carlisle has been successful over so many years in different organizations and able to bring multiple groups to the Finals. Nadkarni: Caw-caw! The Atlanta Hawks had a great offseason, and I believe they have a great chance to play spoiler in the Eastern Conference. After acquiring Dyson Daniels before last season, the Hawks added Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Kristaps Porzingis this summer, bringing in players with playoff experience who can play on both ends of the floor. Combine those guys with young forward Jalen Johnson (who was breaking out last year before an injury) and rising second-year player Zaccharie Risacher (the 2024 first overall pick who improved significantly after the All-Star break), Atlanta seems to have found the right talent to complement star guard Trae Young. If this team gels quickly, they could be as good as anyone in the East. Greif: Some oddsmakers have pegged Orlando with the third-best chance of making the Finals out of the East, a number that implies a certain amount of confidence in the Magic; the expectations are not low, in other words. But to fully turn the corner after two seasons of respectability into a full-blown contender ready to challenge Cleveland and New York, the Magic will have to stop being routinely limited by their offensive shortcomings. I think this is the season it happens, with Desmond Bane adding a threat for defenses that could create space for Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner.Andrew GreifAndrew Greif is a sports reporter for NBC News Digital. Rohan NadkarniRohan Nadkarni is a sports reporter for NBC News.

November 4, 2025

Nov. 4, 2025, 4:10 PM ESTBy Berkeley Lovelace Jr.The Trump administration is expected to announce, as early as this week, a deal with drugmakers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to lower the price of their weight loss drugs in exchange for limited Medicare coverage, according to two people familiar with the plan. The deal would reduce the cost of the lowest doses of the blockbuster GLP-1 medications — Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy — to $149 a month, the people said. In return, Medicare would cover the drugs for some Medicare beneficiaries. It’s not yet clear whether the $149 price would apply broadly across private and public insurance, or only for people paying in cash. It wasn’t immediately clear which Medicare patients would qualify for coverage. The details of the plan could still change. The people confirmed the possible deal on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The news was first reported by Endpoint News. The Washington Post reported the deal could be announced as early as Thursday. White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement, “Discussion about deals that have not been officially announced by the Administration should be regarded as speculation.” In emailed statements, spokespeople for Lilly and Novo Nordisk confirmed they are in discussions with the Trump administration, but offered no details on any potential deal.If finalized, it would be the most significant agreement to emerge from President Donald Trump’s efforts to lower prescription drug prices to align more closely with other developed nations — also known as his “most favored nation” drug pricing push. Trump revived the initiative through an executive order in May after unsuccessfully pursuing it during his first term. The administration has also reached agreements with Pfizer and AstraZeneca to lower costs for some prescription drugs under Medicaid.In October, Trump said the administration was close to a deal to lower the cost of weight loss drugs.”Instead of $1,300, you’ll be paying about $150,” he said from the White House. Zepbound and Wegovy currently carry list prices above $1,000 a month — although both companies have rolled out lower cost options for people paying in cash amid intense public scrutiny over the high cost of the drugs. Costco recently announced that it would sell Wegovy and its diabetes drug Ozempic for $499 to people without insurance; Lilly announced a similar deal with Walmart for Zepbound. Medicare currently covers Wegovy for patients at risk of heart disease, as well as Zepbound for sleep apnea — but not for weight loss alone. Ozempic, which has the same active ingredient as Wegovy, is covered for diabetes.The Biden administration proposed expanding coverage of GLP-1 drugs through Medicare and Medicaid but the Trump administration later rejected the plan. Ozempic and Wegovy are also included in the next round of Medicare drug price negotiations under the Inflation Reduction Act, which former President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022. The Trump administration was expected to finalize new prices for 15 drugs — including the GLP-1s — by Nov. 1. Trump officials have signaled less enthusiasm for the negotiations, instead focusing on executive orders and voluntary pricing agreements with drugmakers. The administration is expected to unveil the new prices by Nov. 30. Berkeley Lovelace Jr.Berkeley Lovelace Jr. is a health and medical reporter for NBC News. He covers the Food and Drug Administration, with a special focus on Covid vaccines, prescription drug pricing and health care. He previously covered the biotech and pharmaceutical industry with CNBC.

October 5, 2025

Oct. 5, 2025, 5:30 AM EDTBy Alexander SmithLONDON — Despite being headlined by a genuine star and staged at one of London’s premier theaters, a play about the foundation of a sprawling and troubled public service seemed unlikely to provoke night after night of standing ovations.But that’s what happened with “Nye,” an unlikely hit about the creator, and origin story, of Britain’s taxpayer-funded National Health Service.The play, written by Tim Price and directed by Rufus Norris, came at an inflection point for the NHS, as it’s known. Almost 80 years after it was founded, the medical service once touted as the envy of the world is “broken” and suffering the “biggest crisis in its history,” the government says. The crisis at this national bedrock is part of a bigger malaise at the heart of British culture: rising prices, stagnant wages and crumbling public services. “I’m terrified, not just for the NHS, but for the whole of our society,” Michael Sheen, who starred as Aneurin “Nye” Bevan, the founder of the NHS, told NBC News in an interview. “Once it’s torn down, then I guess people will think about what they’ve lost.”Michael Sheen performing in “Nye” at London’s National Theatre. Johan Persson / National TheatreSheen, 56, better known to international audiences as Tony Blair in “The Queen,” David Frost in “Frost/Nixon” and the angel Aziraphale in the Amazon Prime series “Good Omens,” has spent much of the last two years honing his portrayal of Bevan, the socialist politician who dragged himself out of Wales’ coal mines to will the NHS into existence.Though second nature to Brits, the ideal of the NHS is unfamiliar to many Americans: British people have universally free health care at the point of access — from ambulances attending car accidents to insulin for diabetes to cancer care to childbirth. Though some people do have private insurance, the idea of having to choose between illness and financial ruin is shocking in the U.K.Now the Labour Party, which created the then-radical NHS in 1948, is battling its own economic constraints and record-setting unpopularity. It has a colossal task if it is to fix the crumbling hospitals replete with overworked doctors and bed-lined corridors. Prime Minister Keir Starmer must turn around a behemoth whose budget of 200 billion English pounds ($269 billion) represents some 40% of all government spending, and whose 1.4 million employees are the world’s seventh-largest workforce. In the United States, only the Department of Defense, Walmart and Amazon outnumber it.An ambulance outside St Thomas’ Hospital in London in 2023.Belinda Jiao file / Getty ImagesThrough all this, the core NHS ideal endures. Everyone in the U.K. has a story of a relative, or themselves, receiving the type of world-class care that puts a terrifying financial strain on millions of Americans. (In the past six years, this reporter’s mother has had a single mastectomy and reconstruction, as well as three titanium plates in a shattered ankle, without having to pay a pound for the care.)But just as common are the tales of maddening, hourslong waits in overstretched emergency rooms, or weeklong delays just to see a community general practitioner. Many critics blame the sprawling crisis on years of underfunding by the now-ousted Conservative government of 2010-2024, whose response to the 2008 financial crisis was to make drastic cuts to public services.It’s perhaps unsurprising that a largely liberal London-theatergoing audience responded with applause and tears at the hagiography of Bevan at the National Theater. Though relatively unknown in wider society, admirers see Bevan as a founding father of modern Britain; his ideal of the NHS today is not just popular, it defines the country itself.“It’s far from perfect,” said Alison Ferris, 40, a nurse at a hospital in Canterbury, in southeast England. “But I do the best that I can for anyone that comes in front of me. I treat every patient like I would treat my loved ones.”Though the concept remains revered, public satisfaction in the NHS in practice cratered to 52% in 2023 from a high of 70% in 2010, according to the King’s Fund, a top think tank tracking British health care.Nye Bevan, Britain’s Minister of Health who is credited with spearheading the creation of the National Health Service, meets a patient in 1948. Edward G. Malindine / Getty Images“We have to fight for the NHS, the same as the NHS was fought for when it was created,” said Ferris’ mother, Caroline Heggie, 70, a hospital union representative, who like her daughter had come to see the last night of “Nye” at the National Theater last month. “We can’t go the way of privatization, we can’t go the way of America. That’s what we’re up against.”Like Bevan, Sheen is a Welsh firebrand unafraid to wear his leftist politics. But he also lived for 14 years in Los Angeles, so knows too well what life is like without socialized health care.“The idea of this health care system that we have here, just seemed so alien to them over there,” Sheen, who now lives back in his Welsh hometown of Port Talbot, says of his former American hosts. He says that “seeing people go into hospitals with serious injuries or illnesses, and being asked to produce their check book before they can be treated” would shock most Britons.The crisis at the NHS coincides with an uptick in hostility toward immigrants — even though they are often people’s doctors, nurses and hospital cleaners. Almost 20% of NHS staff have a non-British nationality, with Indians, Filipinos, Nigerians, Irish and Poles making up most of their number. Nigel Farage, the leader of the hard-right Reform U.K. party and an ally and friend of President Donald Trump, is leading some polls to become Britain’s next prime minister. He has become the first prospective leader to question the funding model of using taxes to fund the NHS — historically taboo.‘Britain stands at a fork in the road’: Starmer warns against rise of far-right populism01:40“It doesn’t work — it’s not working,” Farage told NBC News’ British partner Sky News in May. “We’re getting worse bang for the buck than any other country, particularly out of those European neighbours.”Opposing Farage’s proposal, however, leaves open the specter of privatization, which many say has been creeping up even before the Health and Social Care Act 2012 opened up the NHS to bids from private contractors.Farage isn’t the only person dissatisfied. Indeed, the NHS has slipped from being a world-leader on many metrics.“Corridor care” is now a year-round crisis, and the number of people waiting 12 hours or more to be admitted into an emergency room rose from 47 in summer 2015 to 74,150 this summer. Targets have lagged for years in everything from ambulance attendance times to cancer diagnoses. Meanwhile, a 7 million-strong waiting list means many people feel abandoned for months, in pain, before getting hip or knee replacement and other types of surgery.There is ample evidence to suggest that economic austerity policies imposed during 14 years of Conservative Party rule are at least partly to blame, according to Max Warner, a senior research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a London research group.“It is true that a lot of NHS performance measures over the 2010s were broadly getting worse having started off relatively well,” he said. “Although it’s worth saying that productivity did grow, so it’s a nuanced picture and causality is difficult.”The Conservatives argued that they kept NHS spending up, protecting it from the brutal cuts that crushed almost every other government department at the time. But this 2% yearly growth still fell well short of the 3.8% yearly average since the 1980s, and according to critics was insufficient to cope with an aging population and the rising prices of cutting-edge drugs.Far from the envy of the world, Britain has been scrimping by spending 37 billion pounds ($53 billion) on the health services each year, well below Germany, France and Australia, a landmark review found last year.The current Labour government has outlined plans to raise spending to around 3% — an improvement but still short of what many advocates had hoped. At his annual Labour Party conference this week, Starmer announced that a digital overhaul named NHS Online would launch in 2027, describing it as “a new chapter in the story of our NHS.”Ultimately, whatever the model, cash is key, according to Roy Lilley, who ran an NHS hospital in the 1990s as chairman of Homewood NHS Trust in Surrey, west of London.Michael Sheen, center, performing in “Nye” at London’s National Theatre. Johan Persson / National Theatre“It doesn’t matter how you pay for your health care,” said Lilley, today a consultant whose newsletter hits 300,000 inboxes. “Whether you take it out of your pocket marked ‘insurance,’ or you take it out of your pocket marked ‘taxes,’ it’s still your trousers.” He remains optimistic, however, pointing to some waiting metrics improving and a general recovery from the hammerblow of the pandemic, which drained resources and mentally scarred doctors.Still, Sheen — never shy to mix acting with activism — believes it’s no coincidence that the NHS is in crisis just when its origin story begins to vanish from living memory.“The crisis that we seem to be experiencing makes it all the more important to go back to the beginning and to look at what was behind the founding of the NHS, and what the principles were,” he said. “It becomes incredibly important to tell the story of it and to remind people of what it was actually like, so that we don’t forget.”Alexander SmithAlexander Smith is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital based in London.

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