Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren will miss rookie season with foot injury
NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported Thursday that Oklahoma City Thunder center and No. 2 overall draft pick Chet Holmgren will miss the entirety of his 2022-Chet Holmgren2023 rookie season with a Lisfranc injury to his right foot.
The former Gonzaga star suffered the injury in a Pro-Am game in Seattle on Saturday, that’s suspected to have occurred during an attempt to block a transition layup shot by 18-time All-Star and four time NBA champion Lebron James.
Oklahoma City Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti released this regarding Holmgrem’s injury.
“Certainly, we are disappointed for Chet, especially given the excitement he had about getting on the floor with his teammates this season. We know Chet has a long career ahead of him within our organization and the Oklahoma City community. One of the things that most impressed us during the process of selecting Chet was his determination and focus. We expect that same tenacity will carry him through this period of time as we work together and support him during his rehabilitation,” Presti said.
More on Holmgren, Pro-Am games
Chet Holmgren was ranked the No. 1 national prospect in the 2021 class according to On3 Consensus out of Minneapolis, Minnesota and chose Gonzaga as his school of choice, the highest ranked recruit in Gonzaga history. In his freshman and only season at Gonzaga, Holmgren dominated the WCC conference, ending the season as the WCC Newcomer of the Year, Defensive player of the Year, and All-WCC First Team.
Holmgren was a semi-finalist for multiple national awards, and his versatility made him one of the top prospects of the 2022 NBA draft. Holmgren brings a generational combination of length, ball handling, perimeter shooting, shot blocking, and rebounding which made him one of the most intriguing prospects to date. Unfortunately, one of the weaknesses of Holmgren’s game pointed out during his scouting process was his slight frame, and if he would be durable enough to defend the NBA’s biggest and strongest players.
This injury certainly isn’t how Holmgren intended to start his career, but hopefully he will have a speedy recovery and be able to prove that his game can translate to the professional level in the 2023-2024 season.
It’s also worth mentioning that this summer there has been a substantial increase in NBA players participating in Pro-Am events, with players like Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray advocating for players to play in these games. It will be interesting to see how NBA players react to Holmgren’s injury during a Pro-Am game, and if it impacts their participation in these games moving forward.