Chet Holmgren's rookie season with the Oklahoma City Thunder is off to a terrible start. The second overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft seemingly injured his foot during a Pro-Am appearance with LeBron James. A few days later, the worst possible scenario came true: Chet Holmgren will miss the 2022-23 NBA season due to his injury. (via Shams Charania)
Thunder fans were already on high alert a day ago when Charania reported the extent of Holmgren's injury. The Gonzaga product injured his ankle on a chase-down attempt of LeBron James during their CrawsOver run. Now, the rookie will miss plenty of important time due to his injury, which is reported as a Lisfranc injury in his right foot.
Chet Holmgren joins a long list of former top draft picks that missed their rookie seasons due to a foot injury. Players like Blake Griffin, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid all had foot injuries that forced them to miss their first year in the league. Thunder fans can at least find solace in the fact that these guys played at a high level after their first year off.
With Holmgren's injury, any hope of a potentially competitive Thunder team in the 2022 – 23 season is gone. It's an unfortunate injury, but the team is looking to be more cautious of their prized rookie. Besides, they could potentially have another guy in their sights for the 2023 season…