Chet Holmgren on Tuesday debuted with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Salt Lake City Summer League, and the No. 2 pick dazzled in his first action in the NBA.
Holmgren finished with a game-high 23 points, seven rebounds, six blocked shots, four assists and one steal in 24 minutes of work in the 98-77 win over the Utah Jazz. He had 18 points alone in the first half, and his six blocks were a summer league record in Utah.
He went 7-of-9 from the field, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range.
The 19-year-old looked to show no signs of rust playing in his first competitive game since the Sweet 16 with Gonzaga. He controlled the paint on defense, and rarely missed from the field. He was even double-teamed a few times on offense.
CHET HOLMGREN’S FIRST SLAM IN A THUNDER UNIFORM 🤩 pic.twitter.com/CrnZ7M2WaT
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 6, 2022
The performance will be taken with a grain of salt coming in summer league, but Holmgren showed why he was so highly touted entering the draft. The Thunder certainly have to like the early display by him as he will look to build upon it moving forward.
Those watching along were impressed with Holmgren on the court. He was the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter in the United States and looked as advertised. Thunder fans won’t have to wait long to see Holmgren again as OKC is back in action on Wednesday.
With Holmgren’s first summer league game in the books, we took a look at some of the best tweets and reaction from #NBATwitter throughout the evening.