The collective sports world gained its first look at two of the top up-and-coming players on Monday when Chet Holmgren and the Oklahoma City Thunder hosted Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.
The two players put on a show, too.
Holmgren produced a game-high 21 points, nine rebounds, one assist and one blocked shot in the 122-121 victory. He went 7-of-10 from the field in 16 minutes and became the first Thunder rookie to score at least 21 points in a preseason debut game.
On the other side, Wembanyama led the Spurs with 20 points, five rebounds, two steals and one block in 19 minutes of work. He became the first Spurs rookie to record at least 20 points in a preseason game since DeJuan Blair in 2009.
They earned the nod of approval from Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett.
Wemby and Chet looked like 2 created players last night. Future is bright! Morning y’all 💯 🤝🏾
— Kevin Garnett (@KevinGarnett5KG) October 10, 2023
Of course, the two players have similar frames standing over 7-feet tall. They can handle the ball, shoot and protect the paint, which each showed off on Monday. There is plenty of hype surrounding their upcoming seasons as they each represent a piece of his teams’ success.
It wasn’t the first-ever matchup between the two players, though.
They previously squared off in the 2021 FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup. Holmgren scored 10 points for the United States as the Americans topped Wembanyama and France for the gold medal. Wembanyama had a game-high 22 points, eight rebounds and eight blocks.
“I played against him a couple of years ago in FIBA,” Holmgren said. “It’s really cool to see players from across the world be connected through the NBA. I plan to play a long time and I’m sure he does too so it’ll be no choice but to go back and forth.”
The future is bright.@wemby 🤝 @ChetHolmgren pic.twitter.com/u4A5vM96yj
— NBA (@NBA) October 10, 2023
The first matchup between Wembanyama and Holmgren during the regular season will take center stage on TNT on Nov. 14. It will be the first of dozens of future meetings in the NBA between the two franchise cornerstones as they look forward to playing each other.
“Personally, I was feeling good and had a lot of energy,” Wembanyama said. “I feel like he hurt us in the first half. I know it is just preseason but, for sure, the games against OKC are going to be interesting.”
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