Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama will meet again for the first time this season after their entertaining battles last season. The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs young guns provided the league a preview of great things to come and possibly a stories rivalry.
The duo will make headlines in their match-up on Wednesday so how did their respective coaches prepare for it?
Both Mark Daigneault and Greg Popovich did nothing special for the night. To them, the game, which is both their team’s fourth one this season, is like any other night.
“No. I don’t,” Daigneault said when asked if he paid attention to any buzz about the Wembanyama-Holmgren match up.
Popovich has a more elaborate response.
“I give no thought of Chet vs. Wemby… It’s the Spurs against the Thunder. They play each other.”
Wemby, the no. 1 overall pick of 2023, was declared 2024 Rookie of the Year, while Holmgren, who was the 2nd overall pick of 2022 but sat out the entire season, finished as runner-up.
Chet Holmgren-Victor Wembanyama head-to-head stats
Wembanyama, who was amazingly also named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team, may have gotten the individual honor but when it comes to team performance, Holmgren has more say.
They met three times last season and the Thunder came out on top twice. Holmgren was in his rookie season but he was a key piece for his team that finished first in the Western Conference standings and reached the second round.
In terms of individual numbers, Wemby wins across the board.
The French unicorn averaged 20 points, 13 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 3.7 blocks.
Holmgren listed 16.3 points per game, 7.7 rpg, 4.0 apg, and 1.7bpg.
The Thunder and the Spurs will meet two more times this season. The second one will be in November 19 while the other is on March 2.
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