Dwight Howard and the Riot open the 2026 BIG3 season with a frontcourt hole already on the board. Kosta Koufos will miss the first two games because of a back strain, leaving the Riot without the seven-footer they added for size and experience.
The timing lands on Saturday, when the season-opening four-game slate begins at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. That gives the Riot a short early window to sort out the rotation around Howard and Jordan Crawford before Koufos can even join it.
Howard and Crawford first
The Riot are spearheaded by Howard and Jordan Crawford, and that pair now has to carry the early load without the team’s newest big man. Billy Preston and Chris Allen remain on the roster, so the group still has options around the rim and on the perimeter, but Koufos was added for a specific reason: to bring extra size into the mix.
That leaves the opening stretch built around smaller combinations and more minutes for the players already in place. In a league that starts with a four-game slate, the first two games matter as the only chance to settle roles before Koufos is available.
Koufos back strain
Koufos’ absence is the clearest complication for the Riot entering Week 1. He is a seven-footer, and the Riot added him to give Howard support in the frontcourt, but the back strain pushes that plan back through the first two games.
The roster still has the basic pieces to survive the opening stretch, yet the balance changes fast when the added size is unavailable. Howard and Billy Preston will have to cover that space early, with Crawford handling the backcourt side of the burden.
Riot's early-season test
The Riot enter the 2026 campaign trying to build on a 2025 season that ended with Miami 305 winning the title. Their own opener arrives in the league’s ninth season, after last year’s season-opening clash between the Riot and another squad turned into ejections involving Howard and Lance Stephenson.
This time the immediate question is simpler: how well can the Riot survive the first two games without the seven-footer they brought in to change their interior rotation? If they get through that stretch cleanly, Koufos’ return gives them a deeper front line for the rest of the season-opening slate.
