Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama are two young bigs with the potential to become future Hall of Famers in the NBA. But it seems the league was very quick to label them as rivals.
In the initial phase of their careers, they embraced it as a challenge. But a recent fact has come to light that would make anyone question whether or not this truly is a rivalry.
Chet Holmgren was recently interviewed by ESPN’s Malika Andrews, where he addressed his rivalry with Victor Wembanyama.
“I don’t think it’s ever been up to players or teams to declare rivalries. So, you’re asking the wrong person,” said Holmgren on whether he considers it a rivalry.
“Not a full sentence, I think, but like not in like a don’t take that and run with it in the wrong way media, it was I don’t know, just never really crossed paths,” clarified Holmgren.
Wembanyama earlier addressed their rivalry as well, but he took an indirect shot at Holmgren and the Thunder to at least keep things competitive. He even faced criticism for getting too overconfident.
The Thunder forward seems to be put off by the tag on their matchup. It could be that Holmgren, as an NBA champion, feels such discussions are beneath him. Especially considering that Wembanyama took it personally when he won a championship.
Therefore, this could just be the sting of their most recent loss to the Spurs that saw the Thunder eliminated from the NBA Cup. Holmgren probably finds some satisfaction in knowing that the Spurs did not go all the way and win the NBA Cup as the Knicks emerged victorious in the championship game.
But as Holmgren said, it’s just the media’s tendency to ponder and build on such narratives that may not exist in the first place.
Chet Holmgren has averaged 17.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.8 assists while shooting 52.8% from the field and 42.1% from the three-point line.
Meanwhile, Wembanyama has averaged 17.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 3.2 blocks while shooting 43.9% from the field and 35.3% from beyond the arc.
In the head-to-head record, Holmgren has a slight edge with three wins as compared to Wembanyama’s two.
A bit more trash-talking or at least a conversation between the duo that builds into a solid rivalry over the years would be something that fans want to see. But it is undeniable that whenever this duo faces each other on the court, we expect to witness high-quality basketball.
This duo will face each other in back-to-back games near Christmas (December 24 and 26), where we will hopefully see some more high-intensity hoops.
