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.
#nba Mo Gueye bien présent cette nuit dans la victoire des Hawks sur le parquet d’Orlando (111-107). Le Sénégalais a été efficace et a bien défendu sur Banchero limité à 11 points seulement.
#basket221 #hawks #usa pic.twitter.com/vOJaY47aTS
— Basket221 Officiel
(@basket_221) October 25, 2025
Now in his third season, the Senegalese big man looked like he could be this type of player early in his career. However, he had yet to have a defining moment, at least until the Hawks took down the Magic. After suffocating and infuriating Banchero, someone who has earned high praise, he may have even become a household name.
Atlanta’s decision to start him when they played the Thunder, which allowed him to match up with Chet Holmgren, only increases that likelihood.
To be clear, Gueye wasn’t as effective against Holmgren as he was against Banchero but that’s because Holmgren was unconscious from deep, going 6-8 from long-distance. In total, Holmgren made three 3-pointers over Gueye and got a couple of putbacks while Gueye was on the court. On the flip side, Gueye was able to get a block on Holmgren (and had a 7-foot-1 player feeling like he’d be better off 25 feet away from the rim when he was guarding him) and posterize him.
MO GUEYE POSTER
pic.twitter.com/NLlJpj8oWv
— Basket221 Officiel
Outside of that 1-on-1 matchup, Gueye affected multiple shots around the rim and crashed the boards well despite the Thunder starting both Holmgren and seven-footer Isaiah Hartenstein. He nailed a couple of his own 3s. He also showed off his playmaking upside, his skip pass to Young particularly impressive.
The Last Word
Moving forward, Gueye may not be a starter. Johnson and Risacher have the forward slots locked down. When healthy, Porzingis will start at center. If Porzingis can’t go, Onyeka Okongwu has earned the trust of the coaching staff and will start in his place. However, Gueye does look like he’s in store for a regular rotation role, backing up Johnson. To his credit, that wasn’t the expectation just a week ago.
It’s early, but so far, the 22-year-old is averaging-8.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 36.4% from 3. Numbers aside, he’s playing assertively, using his physical gifts to hound players all over the court.
© Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
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