OKLAHOMA CITY — Chet Holmgren paused, considering the question. Five seconds passed. Then 10. Then 15. It’s early October, and Holmgren is sitting on a table inside the Thunder practice facility, stretching his slender, 7' 1" frame to the floor. For a while, the interview is free-flowing. Holmgren talked about efforts to improve his shot in the offseason. About building more strength. Teams threw a lot of different coverages at him last season, said Holmgren, which is why he committed more time to dissecting game tape.
When the conversation shifts to another subject—Victor Wembanyama—the conversation stalls. Over the last two years, Wembanyama-Holmgren has emerged as one of the NBA’s more intriguing rivalries. They are the Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett of this era, a pair of elite, two-way, 7-footers. Wembanyama was the first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year last season, finishing runner-up for MVP. Holmgren earned his first All-Star and All-NBA nods. The two clashed last spring in the Western Conference finals. Wembanyama got the better of the matchup, and the Spurs won the series.
Holmgren isn’t interested in revisiting that matchup with the Spurs or with Wembanyama. He learned a lot from that series, he says, “but the takeaways from that are tangible against the other 28 teams, too.” Asked if he relished the matchup, Holmgren said, “I relish every game.” Asked if Wembanyama, who has had some not-so-subtle criticisms of Holmgren over the years, had made the rivalry personal, Holmgren said, “that’s a question for him.” Asked if going up against the Spurs felt different than matchups with the Nuggets, Timberwolves, Lakers or any other conference rival, Holmgren paused.
“I wouldn’t put it that way,” said Holmgren.
How would he put it?
“I don’t know.”
By any metric, Holmgren’s 2025–26 season was outstanding. He averaged career highs in points, rebounds and field-goal percentage. He was one of two players to average more than 17 points and eight rebounds while shooting 55% from the floor and 35% from three. The other? Nikola Jokić. Defensively, Holmgren was brilliant. Opponents made just 44.9% of two-point attempts when Holmgren was contesting—the stingiest of any player who defended at least 400 shots.
The conference finals, though, were a disaster. Wembanyama averaged 27.3 points in that series. Holmgren averaged 10.7. Wembanyama shot 40% from three. Holmgren shot 27.3%. In Game 7, Wembanyama racked up 22 points and seven rebounds. Holmgren collected four and four.
When attacking the offseason, Holmgren has a philosophy: Forget everything that came before it. “Disassociate,” says Holmgren. Win a championship? Forget it. Get outplayed in the conference finals? Throw that in the bin, too. “Disassociate from the emotions of it,” says Holmgren. “What happened is not going to change my approach, how serious and how hard I work at what I do.”
A year ago, Holmgren did just that. Injuries limited Holmgren to 32 games during the 2024–25 season. He got healthy before the playoffs and averaged 15.2 points during the Thunder’s title run. He celebrated the championship. And then got right back to work.
“A lot of that was working on my body,” says Holmgren. “I was coming off a f---ed up injury. I was pretty f---ed up that whole playoff run. And then I was able to get my feet under me that summer and it led to a really good season.”
Holmgren admits it took time for him to fully disassociate last spring.
“It definitely took me a couple weeks to sit there and reflect and think all that s--- was for nothing,” says Holmgren. “When you lose, it feels like it was all for nothing because at the end of the day, you don't put all that f---ing work in just to lose. You know what I mean? You put all that work in to try and reach the top. And when you don't get there, you can feel like it's a complete failure.”
When he pushed past it, he got to work. He dove into film, studying how teams mixed up defenses on him. “I definitely think I saw the most variation from team to team,” says Holmgren. He worked on his body. Holmgren will never skyrocket in weight—he’s officially listed at 215 pounds, up a whopping two from last season—but he feels stronger. He worked on getting his shot off quicker. He focused on playing with more pace.
Texted his longtime trainer, Drew Hanlen, “He trusts himself a lot more and feels like he has solutions for problems he experienced last season.”
Holmgren agrees.
“It's like improving at one thing, then the game will tell you what you need to improve at next,” says Holmgren. “Just keep adding the little puzzle pieces. I had a really good summer of continuing to add puzzle pieces.”
In Oklahoma City, no one is surprised. “There's guys that their summer revolves around basketball and there's guys that the basketball fits into their summer,” says Thunder coach Mark Daigneault. “Chet’s summers revolve around basketball.” Daigneault pushes back on suggestions that Wembanyama and the Spurs have Holmgren’s number. “I think they pose problems that are difficult to solve,” says Daigneault. He’s confident in Holmgren’s ability to grow from the experience, if for no other reason than he always does.
“I think he had a tough Game 7 and we lost the series,” says Daigneault. “Obviously there's a lot of emotion and attention on that, but a year earlier he has a ring on his finger and the reason he does is because he's playing in the games.
“Let's not forget this guy is a great player. He's an All-Star player. He's a high, high impact player. And so am I more confident in Chet Holmgren going into this season? Yes, but not because of San Antonio or anything like that. It’s because he's a year older, he's got a year more experience, and he's a great player that had a tough series and internalized it exactly the way you want him to do that. I'm riding with Chet Holmgren.”
The spotlight will be on Holmgren this season, beginning on Tuesday when the Thunder and Spurs renew their rivalry in San Antonio. Holmgren’s status is uncertain—he has missed the preseason with a quad injury—but if he plays, head-to-heads with Wembanyama are inevitable. It’s among the best matchups in basketball, whether Holmgren wants to dive into it or not.
Not that Holmgren’s hiding from it. The challenge, he says, “is always exciting.” He gets what these games are. What this rivalry is. The Spurs are a collection of young 20-somethings fresh off a first Finals appearance. The Thunder are built similarly and are a year removed from a championship. These battles between the two teams could be chronicled in documentaries years from now—as could the tussles between Holmgren and Wembanyama.
“You don't get extra excited to play a tanking team in December,” says Holmgren. “A lot of times you're like, ‘F---. Why don't we just get a f---ing night off instead of having to play [this team]. But when you play against teams that you know you have to bring your best against, I'd definitely say that's like, I'll use your words, you relish the games, you have to bring your best against.”
And the matchup with Wemby?
“You can't get so wrapped up in just that, that you forget the process and the steps that it takes to work towards the goal we're trying to work towards,” says Holmgren. “They're a very talented young team. There's no denying that. And I'd say, I mean, we're a very talented young team too, and that leads to some very fiery, competitive basketball games.”
Beginning, perhaps, Tuesday night.
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