As two of the tallest (and youngest) players in the WNBA, Oklahoma City Thunder star Chet Holmgren and San Antonio Spurs super unicorn Victor Wembanyama always get mentioned in the same sentence. They have become rivals in the eyes of many basketball fans.
But to others, they feel as though Holmgren and Wembanyama hate each other — a notion that the former Gonzaga Bulldogs star tried to demystify during a recent appearance on Philadelphia Philadelphia forward Paul George's show, Podcast P with Paul George.
“I would just say, us being competitors, Holmgren said when asked by George about the presence of “smoke” between the two big men.
“We played against each other before we were even in the NBA. People would be like, ‘Y'all got beef?' I'm like ‘Beef?' We're out there competing, but beef, like beef means like when I see you, like we're fighting. You know what I mean?”
For Holmgren, branding his matchup against Wembanyama with anything that connotes hatred is just wrong and badly misinterprets the concept of competing.
“Why do I got beef with him? I honestly don't even know the guy. Like we just play basketball against each other. As competitors, neither of us wanna lose and neither of us wanna like, just let the other person get a bucket or anything. So, you know, we're always gonna compete and if people take it as we got beef, those people don't really understand competing, I guess.”
The Thunder center also got candid about what he's learned so far from playing against Wembanyama.
I learned from playing against every single matchup that I play against,” Holmgren said. “You know, he's no different. Oh, he is different. Motherf****r is 7'5″. Some things that work on somebody that's 6'9″, doesn't work on. I don't know. Do you know what I mean?”
Thunder-Spurs matchups in 2023-24 NBA season
The 2023-24 NBA season is and will be remembered for a lot of things, including, of course, the fact that it was the first campaign that featrured both Holmgren and Wembanyama. Holmgren entered the NBA a year earlier than Wembanyama, but he was not able to see action with the Thunder in the 2022-23 season because of a foot injury.
Last season, the Thunder and the Spurs faced off four times, but only three of those matchups had both Holmgren and Wembanyama active. In those three contests, the Thunder won twice. Holmgren averaged 16.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.0 steal, and 1.7 blocks against Wembanyama and the Spurs.
On the flip side, Wembanyama had better averages than Holmgren, racking up 20.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.0 steals, and 3.7 blocks in the three games he faced off against the Thunder. Of course, Wembanyama had to do more than Holmgren, who was surrounded by a deeper and better supporting cast.
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