{"id":1957700,"date":"2026-05-27T09:30:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T06:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1957700"},"modified":"2026-05-27T09:30:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T06:30:50","slug":"inside-chet-holmgrens-world-as-the-thunder-chase-another-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1957700","title":{"rendered":"Inside Chet Holmgren\u2019s world as the Thunder chase another title"},"content":{"rendered":"
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OKLAHOMA CITY \u2014 The talk on the team plane centered on a player the Oklahoma City Thunder had not seen in weeks. All-Star point guard Jamal Murray had gone haywire that late-March evening, dropping a career-best 53 points in Denver while OKC was playing in Boston.<\/p>\n

Late at night, with the defending champs heading home from Massachusetts and already in the stratosphere, word of Murray\u2019s heroics spread. It didn\u2019t take long for nearly everyone on the team to join the discussion. Fifty-three points. Nine 3-point makes. Murray was on fire.<\/p>\n

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Basketball players are fans of the game they play, too, and they were glowing over a performance most of them had never matched.<\/p>\n

Then Chet Holmgren entered the conversation.<\/p>\n

The Thunder center had not been sleeping. He wasn\u2019t stationed in a back seat away from the action. He wasn\u2019t hanging with the coaching staff, who sit in a different section, sequestered from his teammates\u2019 social activity. Yet, he stood up to blurt out a major announcement, one he was certain no one on the plane had yet realized.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh!\u201d he yelled. \u201cJamal Murray had 53! Y\u2019all see that?!\u201d<\/p>\n

Without hesitation, the Thunder players merged, all cackling simultaneously. Holmgren realized what had happened. It was not his first time zoning out only to enter a conversation without realizing it had already begun. Within seconds, he was giggling just as hard as everyone else.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny, because it\u2019s Chet,\u201d said Kenrich Williams, one of Holmgren\u2019s closest friends on the Thunder. \u201cThat\u2019s Chet. He\u2019s in his own world, man.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s Chet, all right.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s the comedic relief inside an unusually tight locker room that was built organically, either through the draft or with players who were shunned by other organizations and came to Oklahoma City when they were young, only for the franchise to develop them into helpful contributors. He\u2019s the anchor of the NBA\u2019s most smothering defense, the deserving second-place finisher in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2026. He\u2019s the highly intellectual individual who juxtaposes long diatribes about basketball philosophy, ones where he can identify other teams\u2019 play calls as quickly as Shakespeare could notice iambic pentameter, with aloof gaffes on team planes.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been a supplementary option inside OKC\u2019s playoff offense, behind reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the hierarchy, after All-NBA wing Jalen Williams missed the majority of the regular season and much of the playoffs with injuries.<\/p>\n

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But after Tuesday night\u2019s win, in which Holmgren posted 16 points and 11 rebounds, the defending champion Thunder moved within one victory of a second straight NBA Finals appearance, taking a 3-2 lead over the San Antonio Spurs.<\/p>\n

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Holmgren\u2019s world, the one Kenrich Williams portrays as well as the one reality relays, seems mostly jolly. And Holmgren will back up the sentiment.<\/p>\n

But the center\u2019s time in Oklahoma City did not have to be so pleasant. Before Holmgren could spring to success, he had to accept being a secondary performer, an uneasy task for any young player who had existed as, for lack of a better term, \u201cthe man\u201d \u2014 a role he had to learn from the beginning, but one he could never hold in OKC.<\/p>\n

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With 2025 training camp set to begin, Holmgren\u2019s mind had deviated from the NBA. Fresh off his first title, and perhaps with more to come, he showed up at a pickup game hosted by popular YouTube streamer Kai Cenat. The goal wasn\u2019t to play; it was to help a friend.<\/p>\n

Holmgren knew Cenat\u2019s online following, and he also knew Gilgeous-Alexander had career goals that went beyond racking up trophies: a mission of selling sneakers. And Holmgren was determined to help.<\/p>\n

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With the cameras on him, Holmgren gifted Cenat a pair of Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s Converses, then FaceTimed his starting point guard into the conversation.<\/p>\n

It was all part of Holmgren\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n

Contrary to popular belief, Holmgren rejects the clich\u00e9 that the greatest teams push egos aside, forgetting individual goals in the quest for a Larry O\u2019Brien Trophy. To him, sacrifice means having the greatest of both worlds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best team is the team that has an awareness of each person\u2019s individual goals and helps them get there as a team,\u201d he said earlier this year in a conversation with The Athletic<\/em>. \u201cShai is trying to sell shoes; I went on a stream with his shoes. Maybe somebody\u2019s trying to find their rhythm. They\u2019re not really shooting the ball too well. It\u2019s like, let me pass up this (shot), get them a good one. Stuff like that.<\/p>\n

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\u201cLike last year, (Jalen Williams) was really pushing for All-Star, and all of us were like, go get that s\u2014. Like, go vote for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holmgren\u2019s mentality comes from experience, though not many professional players \u2014 if any at all \u2014 can relate to his situation.<\/p>\n

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ESPN ranked him as the country\u2019s No. 1 recruit when he left high school for Gonzaga in 2021. He did not disappoint in college, eventually becoming the second selection in the 2022 NBA Draft. After a Lisfranc injury sidelined him for his first season, he has lived up to his potential as a pro. If the once-in-a-lifetime Victor Wembanyama did not exist, Holmgren would have won Rookie of the Year. The next spring, Holmgren won his first ring. The following season, this one, he made his first All-Star team and was named an All-NBA third-team selection.<\/p>\n

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After a lifetime as \u201cthe man,\u201d Holmgren has met expectations that were higher than Oklahoma City\u2019s Devon Tower. And yet, because of the place that drafted him \u2014 the one with a loaded roster, with various players who could claim to be \u201cthe man\u201d themselves, with one guy, Gilgeous-Alexander, who actually holds the title after earning his second consecutive MVP award \u2014 Holmgren was forced into an early-career realization that must be difficult for young guys who get gassed up their whole childhoods.<\/p>\n

He was exactly as great as his advocates hoped he\u2019d be, and yet, he had to accept a role.<\/p>\n

A role where he couldn\u2019t chuck up 20 shots a game. One where the offense would never be his. One where, on some nights, the ball might not find him. One that diverged from glory and buried itself in dirty work.<\/p>\n

The Thunder provided an exceptional situation.<\/p>\n

Teams that own top-five picks are normally not ready to win. And thus, they hand responsibilities to the young guys who represent the future. Some players become overwhelmed. Others break out. Either way, they receive their chances, ones Holmgren never had.<\/p>\n

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He injured his foot before his rookie season in 2022-23 and did not play. By the time he returned, the Thunder were ready to take off.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had a six-year build,\u201d Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. \u201cThere was pre-Chet and post-Chet. \u2026 We were a rocket ship once he started playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oklahoma City hasn\u2019t finished lower than first in the Western Conference in any season since Holmgren returned. The roster overflows with talent, maybe enough to place it on the precipice of a dynasty. And so, Holmgren is stuck in a rare situation, one where he has lived up to expectations on both sides of the ball but must operate as a superstar role player for the good of the squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou ever seen the angel and the devil on your shoulder? That visual?\u201d Daigneault asked. \u201cNeither is the angel or the devil, but I do think a lot of players, you\u2019ve got your individual stuff on one shoulder and you got the team on the other.\u201d<\/p>\n

By age 24, Holmgren has figured out the balance.\u00a0He would not average 20 points a game, despite hyperefficient scoring numbers that in another world could convince him to chuck up too many ill-advised looks. He would not handle the basketball aplenty, even though he\u2019s far more skilled than his potentially oafy \u2014 but actually quite fluid \u2014 7-foot-1 stick figure might suggest.<\/p>\n

Instead, he would play within the Thunder\u2019s team concepts.<\/p>\n

\u201cEgo has been the downfall of many people\u2019s careers,\u201d Holmgren said. \u201cI feel like ego gets in the way of maximizing the moment and also understanding. Basically, what you\u2019re asking me is, would I trade what we just accomplished last year and the opportunity that we have (this year) and the group that we have? Would I sacrifice that to go be able to shoot 20 shots a game?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Chet Holmgren during his college basketball days with the Gonzaga Bulldogs. (Kevin Abele \/ Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Before he ever stepped foot in the NBA, Holmgren was a defense-first prospect, a shot-swatter who could also drain 3-pointers on the other end, a rare combination. At Gonzaga, he\u2019d put the ball on the ground and drive to the hoop.<\/p>\n

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But even then, as just a 19-year-old freshman, he was not the team\u2019s leading scorer, an honor that belonged to junior forward Drew Timme.<\/p>\n

Holmgren understands what it\u2019s like to take a back seat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019ve had a very fast maturing with my ego,\u201d he said. \u201cUsually, it takes people till they\u2019re done playing, and they realize that the game keeps going, and nobody\u2019s bigger than the game. People think the game\u2019s gonna stop when they retire. It\u2019s like \u2026 no.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Thunder identified the mentality, one reason they locked in on Holmgren at the 2022 draft.\u00a0The team\u2019s general manager, Sam Presti, is like \u201ca method actor,\u201d Daigneault said. Presti doesn\u2019t just study on-court habits; he also imagines the player in Oklahoma, inside the Thunder\u2019s system and culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very artistic,\u201d Daigneault said.<\/p>\n

The OKC head coach remembers the first time he heard about a young player the team drafted in the 2023 first round: Cason Wallace, a frisky guard capable of handling the ball and scoring more than he\u2019s shown but, like Holmgren, has taken a back seat over his first three NBA seasons. To that point, Daigneault had never seen Wallace play. Too busy obsessing over next-day opponents, he would not have even recognized the teenager\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

So, Presti described Wallace without mentioning anything to do with basketball. The exchange reminded Daigneault of a conversation the two had about energetic big man Jaylin Williams the year prior. \u201cThat guy right there has a different level of intangibles,\u201d Presti told Daigneault at Williams\u2019 pre-draft workout.<\/p>\n

Williams had a certain je ne sais quoi<\/em> that fit what the Thunder hoped to build: a team with high-IQ, low-maintenance personalities, ones capable of sacrificing individual success and choosing to scrap in an inglorious, defense-first culture.<\/p>\n

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When Wallace entered the Thunder\u2019s facility, before Oklahoma City even selected him with the No. 10 pick, Presti made the same claim to Daigneault.<\/p>\n

\u201cElite intangibles,\u201d he said to his coach.<\/p>\n

A year earlier, Holmgren was the one stamped with that vaunted label.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve coached (Williams) now for four years, and you know what he has? Elite intangibles,\u201d Daigneault said. \u201cCason Wallace? Nailed it. Holmgren, he had that one pegged.\u201d<\/p>\n

As much as the Thunder have zeroed in on an on-court style \u2014 playing defense is a requirement in Oklahoma City, as is thriving inside an offense overridden with quick decision-making, screening and cutting \u2014 the team has bound itself to a personality profile.<\/p>\n

Team over ego. Team over All-NBA. Team over scoring titles. Team over MVPs. Team over All-Star appearances.<\/p>\n

No matter what the devil on the shoulder argues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ego in me is like, I can accomplish those things,\u201d Holmgren said. \u201cBut at the end of the day, I can\u2019t let my ego get in the way and try to rush it to the point where it\u2019s detrimental to where we are now. \u2026 I feel like it\u2019s very shortsighted to chase the wrong things, and then you end up miserable, because it\u2019s like, \u2018Well, f\u2014, now everything else that was going great is all f\u2014-d up because I chased this.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other thing that\u2019s f\u2014-d up, too, is some teams that aren\u2019t as good, some guys get to the point where they\u2019re like, \u2018We\u2019re not winning. OK, I\u2019m gonna just make sure I get my averages.\u2019 So, it\u2019s like, I get my averages, but it\u2019s not helping us win. But I got my averages, so now the blame goes on everybody else. That\u2019s one f\u2014-d up message.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a message from which Holmgren hopes to steer clear. Players want shots because they are sexy, or maybe because they signal status. Or maybe because it\u2019s how they\u2019ve always played. Or maybe because of the most obvious and relatable goal any professional in any industry could develop: Scoring in bunches could inflate the direct deposit that wires every two weeks.<\/p>\n

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But Holmgren has found a hack to the system: Forget about the numbers and win so much that the team has no choice but to pay to keep the band together.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the team is winning, everybody\u2019s gonna make more money,\u201d Holmgren said. \u201cIf it\u2019s a contract year for you, and your team s\u2013ts the f\u2014\u2013g bed, even if you\u2019re putting up good stats, you will make less money than if the team f\u2014\u2013g cooks. At the end of the day, winning is respected in the NBA, and winning in the NBA is rewarded.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Thunder were mired in a rebuild when they drafted Holmgren. During his first professional season, they climbed to 40 wins but lost in the Play-In Tournament. The following year, a healthy Holmgren helped the Thunder to 57 victories and the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. They eventually fell to the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the playoffs. The next season, 2024-25, they won their first title since moving to Oklahoma in 2008.<\/p>\n

This past summer, Holmgren and Jalen Williams became eligible for extensions. Both received max contracts.<\/p>\n

Because Holmgren is irreplaceable. As is Jalen Williams, the Thunder\u2019s secondary creator. As is Jaylin Williams, the elite carrier of intangibles. As is Gilgeous-Alexander, who is, at worst, the NBA\u2019s second-best player. As is Kenrich Williams, a career role player who once declared he prefers to finish his career in Oklahoma City because of the culture the guys have cultivated.<\/p>\n

As are the out-of-nowhere developmental pieces, such as Ajay Mitchell, Aaron Wiggins or Isaiah Joe. As is the newest addition, Jared McCain. As is the pack of defensive hounds OKC releases on anyone it plays, a gang that includes Wallace, Alex Caruso, Luguentz Dort and Isaiah Hartenstein.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sitting here saying, oh, because I have this mindset, we\u2019re winning,\u201d Holmgren said. \u201cIt\u2019s because all of us have this mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OKLAHOMA CITY \u2014 The talk on the team plane centered on a player the Oklahoma City Thunder had not seen in weeks. All-Star point guard Jamal Murray had gone haywire that late-March evening, dropping a career-best 53 points in Denver while OKC was playing in Boston. Late at night, with the defending champs heading home […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1957700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1957700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1957700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1957700\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1957700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1957700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1957700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}