The Oklahoma City Thunder lost a Game 7 they should have won, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made sure nobody points the finger at Chet Holmgren on the way out.
Speaking after the season-ending loss to the Spurs, SGA went out of his way to defend his young big man, who struggled mightily in the series and especially in the deciding game. Holmgren posted a 6-point, 4-rebound stat line in Game 7 and was outplayed badly by Victor Wembanyama in the matchup of generational young bigs.
SGA was not having any of the criticism that has been piling on Holmgren since the buzzer sounded. He pointed to Holmgren’s age, his trajectory, and the fact that the Thunder do not exist as a contender without him on the roster.
That is the right thing for a franchise player to say. It is also accurate.
Holmgren is 23 years old. He has played one full healthy NBA season after losing a year to a Lisfranc injury. The expectation that he would step into a Western Conference Finals against a generationally talented Wembanyama and dominate was always unrealistic. Wemby is bigger, stronger right now, and more polished offensively than Chet at the same stage.
None of that makes Holmgren a disappointment. He averaged 18 points and 8 rebounds during the regular season. He was a top-five defensive player in the league. The Thunder were the No. 2 seed in the West largely because of what he and SGA built together.
The series got away from Oklahoma City for reasons that had little to do with Holmgren specifically. The bench production fell off. Jalen Williams went cold for stretches. The Spurs adjusted to take Lu Dort out of his role. The Thunder did not have answers for any of it.
SGA is right to defend his teammate. He is also right to take the long view. The Thunder are the second youngest team to make a conference finals in modern NBA history. They are not going anywhere. The core of SGA, Williams, Holmgren, and now incoming lottery pick whoever GM Sam Presti targets is going to be in the championship mix for the rest of the decade.
The Western Conference is also about to get harder. Wembanyama is just getting started. The Lakers will reload around Luka Doncic. The Nuggets and Timberwolves are still in the picture. Houston is coming. The Mavericks have draft capital.
Oklahoma City has all the same things going for it that made them the conference favorite this year. They added a deep playoff run to the resume. They have draft picks coming for the next several years. They are paying their stars on team-friendly contracts that allow flexibility.
The narrative coming out of the Thunder’s loss should not be that Holmgren got exposed. The narrative should be that two of the most exciting young teams in the league played a seven-game series that produced future Finals MVPs on both ends.
SGA knows that. He just made sure everyone else knows it too.
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.
