Two of the brightest young stars in the league have put the NBA on notice. They will be players to look out for in years to come. Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama spoke on the epic Spurs-Thunder duel that will be interesting to watch in the future.
The Spurs and Thunder played in a pre-season game last night, and the young guys did not disappoint. Holmgren had 21 points and nine rebounds in just 16 minutes of play. On the other hand, Wembanyama had 20 points and five rebounds in 19 minutes.
Wembanyama called Holmgren one of the “great players” of the current generation after the match. The Spurs superstar envisions many great battles over the coming years.
“It was good. Personally, I was feeling good, I had a lot of energy,” Wembanyama said. “I feel like [Holmgren] hurt us in the first half. I know it’s just preseason, but for sure, the games against OKC [Thunder] are gonna be interesting.”
“He’s a really good player. I played against him once, a couple of years back. He’s part of the great players of this generation,” Wembanyama explained.
Holmgren was impressed with how Wembanyama played within the flow of the game as opposed to the game becoming a matter of them both going at each other.
“It’s really cool to see players from across the world be connected to the NBA. And I plan to play a long time, I’m sure he does too so there’ll be no choice but to go back and forth so I’m excited,” Holmgren said.
“That’s something that you can really get baited into. It tends to happen to young players sometimes,” Holmgren explained. “But I feel like Vic and myself did a really good job of understanding that it’s not the Chet versus Vic show. This is the Thunder versus Spurs.”
The NBA will have one of the most closely matched rookies of the year race. Wembanyama is a heavy favorite to win the award. Holmgren will have something to say about that after missing the whole year last season and is eligible for the award. There is also Scoot Henderson of the Blazers, who will have the opportunity to see playing time after the trade of Damian Lillard.
Nonetheless, the matchup between the seven-footers will be something to marvel at each time they play one another. Two highly skilled players who are a rarity at that height will keep fans and players watching with keen eyes.
Despite not being favorites in the West, the Thunder and Spurs have generational talents that will surely make their mark in the NBA.
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