Heading into Tuesday, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s in-season tournament game against the San Antonio Spurs will offer fans the chance to see Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama face off for the first time in the regular season.
The pair of seven-foot rookies have been viewed as a budding rivalry to the point the league is pushing for it to happen by assigning TNT to broadcast the game for a national audience to see.
It only makes sense both players are pitted against each other. Both are seven-footers who provide great defense with their length and possess the ball-handling and scoring smoothness typically associated with guards. Both players were top-two picks in the last two draft classes.
The fact they were drafted by the Thunder and Spurs, respectively, just adds another layer. Both franchises spent most of the 2010s competing against each other in the upper echelon of the Western Conference. As most know, Thunder general manager Sam Presti had his start with the Spurs. There are many shared branches between both organizations.
Despite all the hype heading into the first real meeting between the top two Rookie of the Year candidates, Holmgren downplayed his rivalry with Wembanyama, saying he’s more focused on earning a win.
“I’m not too focused on the next 15 years,” Holmgren said during Tuesday’s shootaround. “I’m focused on helping the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Spurs tonight. That’s what we as a team is focused on.”
Kenrich Williams, who is set to make his season debut after missing the first 10 games with back spasms, attested to Holmgren’s mindset, revealing they haven’t even talked about the budding Chet vs. Wemby rivalry in their locker room.
“Nah it’s just a regular game honestly,” Williams said. “Another game on the schedule.”
Regardless of how Holmgren vs. Wembanyama is viewed internally in OKC, there’s no denying it feels inevitable these two will clash for the foreseeable future as both the Thunder and Spurs look to return to contention with their young cores.
The first of several chapters will be written on Tuesday as the Thunder look to collect their first in-season tournament win in front of a league-wide audience.
