Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren each put on an NBA uniform for the first time as they faced off in an otherwise meaningless preseason opener between the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night. The rivalry between the two adolescent giants started at the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup. If we as a basketball watching public are lucky, it might just help define the next 15 years of where the sport is headed.
Victor Wembanyama’s brutal headbutt and acrobatic scoop vs. Chet Holmgren stole show in NBA preseason debut
Sign us up for 15+ years of Wemby vs. Chet.
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Wembanyama and Holmgren were each spectacular on the night. Wembanyama finished with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting with a couple threes and three stocks (steals + blocks); Holmgren had 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting, made both his threes, and looked strong on the glass with nine rebounds. The numbers show that the two young bigs are ready for NBA competition from the jump, and the highlights show just how outrageous talent already is.
There were some moments of magic on the possessions where the two 7-footers matched up. Wembanyama made this absolutely incredible scoop layup around Holmgren’s block attempt at the rim during the second quarter. It is hard to comprehend a 7’5 guy doing this on an NBA floor — especially as a teenager.
Wembanyama also got Holmgren with a strong drive to the basket from the perimeter in the first quarter. The ball handling, change of direction, and finish for someone this big is just unbelievable stuff.
If you look closely, Wembayama clearly head-butted Holmgren to create space for the layup at the end of that play.
Holmgren was quick to call him out on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter after the game.
As someone who has watched both Wembanyama and Holmgren closely before they were drafted, the competitiveness both consistently showcased has always been nearly as impressive as their size, skill, and athleticism. Nothing shows how much dog is in both of these guys like preseason headbutts.
Watch the full highlights of Wembayama vs. Holmgren in NBA preseason here:
If these guys are already this good at 19 and 21 years old respectively, it’s wild to imagine where they will be at when they reach their peaks. It’s going to so much fun watching both slowly get there. It all starts this season with two amazing rookies. The league is in good hands.
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