In a size advantage, Chet Holmgren put the ball down. He drove headfirst into Devin Vassell. Once he blew past him, he squared right up at Victor Wembanyama's shot contest. The two basketball giraffes collided in mid-air. Holmgren won that matchup. The early bucket was nice, but the message it sent for the rest of the night was more important.
The Oklahoma City Thunder absolutely bullied the San Antonio Spurs in a 116-104 win on Opening Night. They led throughout most of the contest and by as many as 26 points.
Holmgren finished with 14 points on 3-of-8 shooting, seven rebounds and two assists. He shot 0-of-1 from 3 and went 8-of-8 on free throws. He also had four blocks.
Starting a new school year, Holmgren isn't going to let Wembanyama bully him again. He stood up for himself and punched back. Just like parents in similar situations, all OKC fans could do was smile. You can't wash away your 2026 Western Conference Finals sins in one night, but this was the first step in redemption. Welcome back to playing at an All-NBA level.
From the start, Holmgren carried himself differently. He had an extra moxie to him. For most of the first quarter, he stuck on Wembanyama. Every time he had a chance to switch, he rejected the action. Nope. This was my guy. Seven-footer on seven-footer. The results? One of OKC's most dominant showings against San Antonio in years. Wow. Who would've thought?
"I feel there's a balance between letting the game tell you what to do and telling the game what to do and making the game fit around. I don't think I've quite found the perfect balance of that. I don't think you ever do," Holmgren said. "I think the perfect balance of being aggressive and then just reading, trying to make the right reads out there. So just kinda what I try to do. Am I ever perfect at it? No. Will I ever be perfect at it? Probably not. But I just kinda try to get better and better at it."
The Thunder have overthought themselves into a pretzel with Wembanyama. How do you guard someone with his size and skill? Sometimes, the answer is slapping you across the face. Put your own version of him on him in Holmgren. After all, that's what the NBA world wants to see. That has become one of the best rivalries in recent years. Even if it's the Cold War kind.
Perhaps nobody was more excited to see Holmgren carry himself around with a dash of confidence than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The two-time MVP winner needed his All-NBA teammate last spring. It didn't happen. You can't change the past, but you're in full control of your present and future. He finally dusted off some cobwebs and returned to form.
"Chet is an All-NBA talent on both ends. Your team is better. It's as simple as that. He's on our team. But if he were on any other team, it would be the same thing," Gilgeous-Alexander said about Holmgren. "When he's aggressive, when he's confident, when he's out there playing his game, he makes your basketball team better. It's no coincidence. He played better and we had a good night tonight."
With a confident Holmgren absolutely cooking the Spurs, De'Aaron Fox lashed out in his flagrant foul. He tossed the seven-footer across the floor. Fireworks popped off. Those are always inevitable and bubble to the surface when the Thunder and Spurs clash. The All-NBA talent cooled off any wild speculation, but did show love to his teammates for making a big fuss over it.
"I mean, I'm not going to think too much of the play. At the end of the day, s--t, I'm going to get up and keep hooping. But I appreciate my teammates having my back," Holmgren said. "I'm not necessarily sure how exactly we get three techs when for a reaction to something else. I don't fully understand that. But at the end of the day, I feel like anything that you're not willing to reciprocate is an advantage for the other team. So if they want that physical, we have to match that."
This was the absolute best launching point for Holmgren's year. Especially since most view it as a fork-in-the-road moment. Will he learn from his postseason failures or falter from them? Through Opening Night, it looks like the 24-year-old utilized the humiliation ritual as extra motivation to return new-and-improved. You couldn't have drawn up anything better.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Chet Holmgren takes step closer to redemption in OKC's Opening Night win over Spurs