Chet Holmgren is hoping to wrap his rookie season with an NBA Championship, emerging as one of the stars of the OKC Thunder in his first year. He prepared for this moment by playing against the NBA’s elite big men, sharing a story with Boardroom about playing 1-on-1 against Joel Embiid at a pick-up game in 2022.
“I was out hooping in LA to work out with Jrue, and he works out with Joel too and we’re playing pickup. He comes in the gym right before we’re starting, he’s like, ‘This kid’s probably not that good,’ so he’s kind of bulls**tting. In the first game, I had like a turnaround to win the game. And then Jrue went up to him, he’s like basically talking, Jrue’s thing is he’s talking to you like 24/7 so he’s talking s–t to Joel and I wasn’t talking to him, I knew better.”
Holiday’s trash-talk led to Chet being punished, as Embiid forced the rookie to play him one-on-one, a matchup where Chet struggled.
“He turned it into a one-on-one game. We’re playing pickup, and he’s like ‘You’re not allowed to double,’ and he put eight people on the other side of the court and we play one-on-one. Not a whole lot you can do in that scenario. You know fadeaways, bumps, he’s got all the footwork too. So that’s kind of where I realized this is where the bar is. You know, this is what you got to compete with every night in the NBA, and I think that was huge for me having that experience before I got hurt, kind of figuring out where I needed to get myself to.”
Chet averaged 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 2.3 blocks in his rookie season, likely finishing as top-two in Rookie of the Year. The Thunder center has proven himself among the best centers in the league already, and experiences like playing against Embiid had to have given him further insight into what he needs to do to be successful in the NBA.
Chet Holmgren Isn’t Worrying About The Result Of ROTY
Holmgren is in a closely contested race for the Rookie of the Year trophy with Victor Wembanyama. While both players have put up generational numbers as rookies, only one can be the winner. Chet shared his views on this battle as well.
“I feel like that’s a loaded question. First of all, all credit to Wemby and what he’s doing. Having the argument of winning vs. not winning, sacrificing for the team vs. having more opportunity, and what some might think are higher level players on a team vs. not. We’re both having great years. I think the voting is in the eye of the beholder. The input from our season is what they’re going to judge it on.”
Wembanyama averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 3.6 blocks over his rookie season. His defensive production is historic, leading the NBA in blocks and likely finishing as runner-up in the DPOY race as well.
Holmgren had a smaller role on the No. 1 seed Thunder but will have a chance to burnish his reputation in the postseason further, as the Thunder get ready to face the winner of the Kings vs. Pelicans play-in game in the first round.
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