Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Refuses to Throw Chet Holmgren Under the Bus After Thunder Loss
Chet Holmgren had a brutal Western Conference Finals. He looked nothing like the All-Star big man who anchored Oklahoma City’s title run a year ago. And Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wants everyone to chill out about it.
Asked Sunday whether he planned to talk to Holmgren about the disappointing series, SGA shut the conversation down. ‘Nah, I haven’t talked to Chet about that,’ he said. ‘I won’t. I also don’t feel like I need to.’
Then the reigning MVP went further. ‘I didn’t perform my greatest this series either, and Chet won’t come to me with a development plan for this summer. Chet knows how much I care about this game and want to be the best version of myself every night I’m out there on the floor, and I know how much Chet loves this game and wants to be the best version himself out there every night on the floor, and sometimes it just doesn’t go that way, for whatever reason that is.’
Holmgren’s Numbers Tell the Story
The numbers were not kind. In seven games against the Spurs, Holmgren averaged 10.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks. He looked unwilling to attack Victor Wembanyama. In Game 7, he took just two shots and finished with four points. That is not an All-Star line. That is a guy whose confidence got crushed by the matchup.
Compare that to last year’s title run, when Holmgren averaged 15.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks across 23 games and helped OKC bring home a championship. Same player, completely different version.
That is the problem with going head to head with Wemby in a seven-game series. He breaks people. Holmgren got broken, and the question is whether that is a one-series issue or something deeper.
SGA Is Playing the Long Game
Gilgeous-Alexander knows what he is doing here. Calling out Holmgren publicly would do nothing except damage trust in the locker room. SGA backed his guy. That is what real superstar leadership looks like.
He added that he has ‘no doubt’ Holmgren will figure it out, and said the version of Chet who underwhelmed against the Spurs is ‘the worst version’ fans will ever see again. That is a vote of confidence with a deadline attached. The bar has been set.
The Thunder are still one of the best young rosters in the NBA. They went 64-18 in the regular season and came one win away from the Finals. The pieces are in place. The question is whether Holmgren can use this offseason to fix what cracked under playoff pressure.
Improvement in the NBA is not linear, and the next time Holmgren lines up across from Wembanyama, fans will be watching closely. SGA gave him cover this time. He will not need to do it again if Chet handles his business.
The Thunder dynasty conversation got delayed by a season. SGA is not panicking. He is too busy holding the team together.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
