Ace Bailey’s entry to the NBA is not as smooth as his playing style as everyone expected after his controversial defiance to workout with teams interested on him. All of that is in the past now and he is making Utah Jazz look lucky after his stellar showing his first ever game for them.

The Jazz took on the Kevin Durant-led Houston Rockets and although they lost 127-140, fans should feel excited with what’s about to come because of their 2025 fifth overall pick.
Ace Bailey aced his @utahjazz preseason debut!
25 PTS (11-16 FGM)
6 REB
3 AST
2 STL
1 BLKQuite a start for the No. 5 overall pick 👀 pic.twitter.com/CByKWtut76
— NBA (@NBA) October 9, 2025

Bailey scored 25 points on 11-of-16 shooting in 31 minutes of play. He also added six rebounds and three assists.
Ace Bailey got fans raving
He looked comfortable all over the court and was even brazen enough to get into it with KD, earning the Rocket star’s trash talk.
It’s only the first ever game but he got the NBA x curious.
This is so good.
One dribble, gather, power off of two feet, and finish easily at the basket through the defense. Yeesh. pic.twitter.com/ubcFM3aOnv
Ace Bailey is chirping Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) in his first ever game 😅
👉 https://t.co/cMGitzLfmQ pic.twitter.com/plRStpnN9E
— Rutgers Scarlet Knights | The Knight Report (@RutgersOn3) October 9, 2025
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) October 9, 2025
Ace already looks leaps and bounds better than summer league in terms of processing the game and making reads….
— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) October 9, 2025

This is what you love to see from Ace Bailey, on top of the on-ball scoring https://t.co/XhAK7Wxluq
— Kevin O’Connor (@KevinOConnor) October 9, 2025
This nigga Ace Bailey got 19 points in 22 mins
And is dicing up a 52 win team playing most of its playersSpreadsheet gangstas a legit black eye on basketball discourse
And a flat out joke to the game
They are leading organizations down a path of destruction son— unduh (@Unduhcover) October 9, 2025
Can’t believe twitter tried to rage bait me saying Ace Bailey should go play glue guy for the 76ers rather than do this on his own team pic.twitter.com/W31ahOmlEt
— cam (@1cameronj) October 9, 2025
Jazz’s next pre-season game will be against the San Antonio Spurs where Bailey will meet his former backcourt Rutgers partner Dylan Harper.
For the latest Basketball Content
Make sure you are always updated on your favorite basketball players and teams. Follow us @HardwoodHeroics for the latest and trending news about NBA, college basketball, and more. Stay updated by reading more of our NBA articles by clicking here and college basketball by clicking here!