Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren are expected to battle for the Rookie of the Year award all season long, as the two unicorn centers embark on their path to NBA stardom. Both played against each other in the NBA preseason tonight, with Holmgren’s OKC winning 121-122 in a closely fought affair.
Chet Holmgren gets the WIN over Victor Wembanyama as the Thunder beat the Spurs 122 – 121! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/JUd2nfmUUl
— Basketball Forever (@bballforever_) October 10, 2023
Holmgren ended the game with 21 points, nine rebounds, one assist, and one block with 100% shooting from three in 16 minutes. Wembanyama had 20 points, five rebounds, two steals, and one block on 61.5% shooting from the field, falling short of Holmgren in this matchup.
Both players dominated the game, having a combined 39 points between them at halftime. Due to it being a preseason game, neither star ended up playing heavy minutes toward the end to see which team would triumph, but this battle has already gotten fans around the NBA buzzing.
Fans Are Ready For This New-Age NBA Rivalry
The battle between the bigs did not disappoint, as Wembanyama and Holmgren traded buckets all throughout the first half of the game.
Chet and Wemby the entire first half of this game pic.twitter.com/0O2Ig97tjY
— PrizePicks (@PrizePicks) October 10, 2023
One fan jokingly called that matchup the ‘toothpick duel’.
toothpick duel carrying nba preseason
— Dior ♱💕 (@di0rburner) October 10, 2023
Fans were calling the pair of them the future of the NBA.
future of the league pic.twitter.com/vXYaNVPVRV
— KiLBJJ ⁵ ²³ (@KiLBJJ) October 10, 2023
Another fan jokingly referred to their first half duel as the most fun first half in athletics history.
I think that the first half of Thunder-Spurs was the funnest half in athletics history pic.twitter.com/lITd8GaAUn
— Cooper Jones (@CooperJNBA) October 10, 2023
Fans compared this young rivalry to that between Dirk Nowitzki and Tim Duncan.
Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren right now pic.twitter.com/VgE3UIao3M
— dean 🦂 (@DeanScorpion_) October 10, 2023
Kevin O’Connor shared a clip from the game of Wembanyama and said that there’s no chance anyone in the NBA can stop him if his shot is falling.
Victor Wembanyama runs through a handoff into a side step 3. Good luck stopping this if his shot is falling. pic.twitter.com/aM31C1o8bA
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnor) October 10, 2023
Fans think this preseason matchup has been more entertaining than the entire NFL season until now.
This Wembanyama vs Chet 3 point sequence clears the whole NFL season 😭pic.twitter.com/RKnFlFhppe
— Russ' TD ⚡ (@RussFcb) October 10, 2023
The highlights from this battle are mind-boggling, as we haven’t ever seen players at this size move around the court with as much ease as Wembanyama and Holmgren do.
This may be the next NBA rivalry we get to see play out over the next generation as the LeBron James and Stephen Curry era winds down.
Victor Wembanyama Showered Chet Holmgren With Praise
Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren aren’t strangers to one another. The duo has faced off in international competition at the youth level before, with Wembanyama getting the better of Holmgren at that point in their careers.
Prior to the game, Wemby reflected on his early-career matchups with Holmgren and said that the OKC big man is one of the defining players of the current generation.
“He’s a really good player. I played against him once, a couple of years back. He’s part of the great players of this generation.”
“He's a really good player. I played against him once, a couple of years back. He's part of the great players of this generation.”
Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama on Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren 🤝
(via @Josh810)
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 9, 2023
Holmgren has shown incredible ability on the court but couldn’t play out his rookie season. A lisfranc injury before the 2022-23 season meant he had to sit out his rookie year and watch the Thunder fail to make the playoffs without being able to contribute. He took the season off to get his body ready for the NBA, looking more muscular this offseason compared to 2022.
Wembanyama has similar concerns about his frames but has allegedly already added 20 pounds over the summer. They have to maintain a healthy balance between being heavy enough to succeed on the court and not straining their bodies while also keeping their light touch and speed that helps them generate space. It’s not easy, but talents of this caliber usually figure out what they need to do to win.
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