Dirk Nowitzki did not hide his annoyance with Victor Wembanyama’s comments on Thunder forward Chet Holmgren ahead of the NBA Cup semifinal.
NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki criticized San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama’s comments on Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren ahead of their huge NBA Cup semifinals win against OKC on Saturday, 111–109.
Wembanyama downplayed facing Holmgren ahead of the semifinals, saying anybody is difficult to guard when you have an MVP on their team, which didn’t sit well with Nowitzki, who believed Wemby’s comment was a bit cocky and too dismissive of Chet.
“I do want to say, I didn’t love his answer about Chet Holmgren,” Nowitzki admitted while speaking as a panelist Saturday on the Spurs–Thunder pregame show.
“I wish he would’ve given him a little bit of credit. You can say, ‘Hey, they have the MVP. Shai’s incredible, but Chet’s gotten better every year. He’s a champ. I want to play hard against them.’ I didn’t love that answer. To me, it’s too swaggy, too dismissive of Chet,” he added.
Wemby ended up winning the individual battle against Holmgren in the semis, finishing with 22 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks in 20 minutes of play.
Meanwhile, Holmgren finished with 17 points and seven rebounds in 30 minutes of action.
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