Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren put on a show in their shared preseason debut on Monday night, showing exactly why they're arguably the best big men prospects in all of basketball. After the Oklahoma City Thunder's highlight-filled 122-121 win over the San Antonio Spurs, though, one Twitter user took the opportunity to fan the flames of the young seven-footer's budding rivalry in a manner that Josh Giddey shaking his head.
In response to a San Antonio fan account noting that Holmgren failed to score on Wembanyama during their teams' exhibition opener, Giddey went out of his way to say how “weird” the post was.
The only meaningful takeaway from Monday's game regarding the Wembanyama-Holmgren matchup is that they looked like game-wrecking stars on both sides of the ball, putting their unreal blends of length, athleticism and skill on full display.
The real story behind Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren's first matchup
Wembanyama finished with 20 points, five rebounds two steals and a block on 8-of-13 shooting, hitting a pair of triples and exhibiting largely overlooked playmaking flair in just over 19 minutes of action. Holmgren was even more productive in less time on the court, scoring 21 points, grabbing nine boards and canning both of his three-point attempts during 16 minutes of action.
Yes, Wembanyama went through Holmgren's chest for a slick drive and finish. The French wunderkind also reached right over the top of his Thunder counterpart for a ridiculous putback on a missed free throw.
What the post Giddy takes issue with conveniently fails to acknowledge is that Wembanyama spent the majority of his floor time guarding Oklahoma City's de facto power forward, leaving the Holmgren assignment to veteran center Zach Collins. Holmgren, on the other hand, served as Wembanyama's primary defender at times when they were in the game together, the Thunder opting to play the lithe rookie without another traditional big next to him.
Neither Wembanyama nor Holmgren got the best of the other on Monday night. Any suggestion differently is disingenuous, the type of baseless ‘hot take' that intentionally ignores crucial context for clicks, views and attention—often rubbing players the wrong way in the process.
There will likely come a time down the line when Wembanyama separates himself from Holmgren, or vice versa. Until they play an actual competitive game against each other let alone approach their physical primes, though, let's just relish watching Wembanyama and Holmgren break previously established rules of basketball simultaneously each time San Antonio and Oklahoma City face off.
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