NBL25's class of Next Stars is looming as one of the top groups of emerging hoops talent anywhere in the world. Stay informed as to how each of the competition's brightest stars played on the weekend with NBL Media's Next Stars Wrap.

South East Melbourne split their Round 17 games at home — getting the win against the Breakers while coming up short against the Kings. Malique Lewis, while struggling with his shooting touch, maintained his starting role and delivered his elite defensive versatility. 

The Mexican sensation Karim Lopez continued his historic scoring run in Round 17: “El Vato” had 17 points in a win over Tasmania, and then recorded his NBL career-high against South East Melbourne with 20 points. He has scored 72 points over the last four contests, a feature unheard of from a 17-year-old prospect. 

Rocco Zikarsky remained out with knee soreness.

The Sydney Kings look to be peaking at the perfect time. In what their head coach Brian Goorjian described as their best win of the season, Alex Toohey and his teammates managed to beat the Phoenix on the road, a very difficult feat in NBL25. Toohey impacted the game with 10 points and 4 rebounds. The Aussie Next Star was featured in the latest NBL25 Dream Big documentary episode — giving us a full behind-the-scene access to his development on both the basketball court and the golf course.

Izan Almansa and the Perth Wildcats celebrated their leader Bryce Cotton playing his 250th game with the club on Wednesday, and continued their push to secure a top-2 seed. The Wildcats have a 8-3 record since Almansa was moved permanently to the starting lineup.