The Oklahoma City Thunder blew out the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night in the first regular season matchup between Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama. The game was billed as the future of the NBA, but the individual matchup and the game itself fizzled.
The 7-4 OKC Thunder destroyed the 3-8 Spurs 123-87, and neither player reached double digits in scoring. But make no mistake, these two young men are the future.
In the span of two consecutive drafts (2022 and 2023) two extremely tall and skinny players with guard skills were selected with one of the top two picks.
Very Tall And Very Skilled
A tall player that has range out to three, that can handle and pass and be a rim protector on defense is such a special weapon. The rim is 10 feet above the court. Being tall and supremely skilled is a huge advantage.
Back in 2007 a then-6-foot-10 (now 7-0, though he loves to deny it) Kevin Durant was a skinny rookie beanpole weighing in at 215 pounds. He famously was one of the only NBA draftees who couldn’t bench press 185 pounds. The knock on Durant was he was too skinny and weak and he would get bullied by grown men in the league. All those guard skills were no good for a player that tall.
Many so-called pundits and experts said he had to put on weight and bulk up like LeBron James in order to reach his full potential. But a trainer by the name of Justin Zormelo thought otherwise.
Those same things are being said about Wemby and Chet, and both have talked about adding muscle over time, but neither believes they need to put on weight and bulk up. That will take away their superpower.
“They can think that because they don’t know my work ethic,” Wembanyama said on “Good Morning America” back in June. “I know how I work, how we work, in my surroundings, my environment. I could never have any doubt.”
“It’s not just about being big. There’s so much into the game now,” Holmgren said on the “All The Smoke” podcast in August. “You got to be able to move still and do so many different things. It’s not necessarily about gaining weight. It’s really just trying to work on my body — stronger, more athletic.
“Really, the weight kinda comes with it as you add some muscle and get older, you always add weight. But I don’t want to add the wrong weight, just get some big broad shoulders and now I’m moving slow, can’t move (and) my knees hurt. The focus has been working on my body all around and how it plays into my game.”
Chet And Wemby Are The Future
This is the future of the league. Super skilled seven-footers who can rim protect on one end and lead the break into an off-the-dribble three.
While the two only matched up against each other a couple times on Tuesday night, they’re both very competitive and know they’ll be facing off against each other for years to come.
Their history goes all the way back to 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup where Team USA defeated Team France 83-81.
During this year’s preseason the two also went head-to-head and had moments against each other.
They are rookies and Holmgren is on a much better team that should finish top 6 in the tough Western Conference, whereas the Spurs look headed for the lottery again.
Get ready for this matchup for years to come, and if both players remain healthy and develop to their potential we are in for some epic battles.
