Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren is calling out the NBA on behalf of his teammate, Isaiah Joe, and the upcoming 3-point contest at All-Star weekend. Joe made four threes in the Thunder's win against the Cleveland Cavs, which the defending champions pulled off with only 10 active players. For Holmgren, it's just one of the many examples of how lethal and efficient Isaiah's 3-point shooting has been this season.
While the 2026 contestants haven't been announced, Holmgren is still stunned that Joe hasn't been called to participate in this year's 3-point contest at NBA All-Star weekend, he said, per The Oklahoman's Justin Martinez.
“I don't know how he hasn't gotten invited yet,” Holmgren said. “I don't know how they calculate that. I'm not even gonna sit here and make guesses, but he deserves to be out there for the 3-point contest. I'm sure that's something that he would love to do, and I'm sure if he got in, he'd go win it. So, the league needs to send that invite.”
Here’s Chet Holmgren before OKC’s road game against Milwaukee pic.twitter.com/AOSXGEI3Rm
— Justin Martinez (@Justintohoops) January 21, 2026
Averaging 2.3 threes on 5.4 attempts, Isaiah Joe is shooting at a career-best 41.8% from deep for the Thunder this season, but has been red hot from the perimeter over the past week. Joe is 62.5% on 10-for-16 3-point attempts in his last four games.
Chet Holmgren gets DPOY campaign after Thunder win
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Thunder center Chet Holmgren (7) during the second half at Rocket Arena
Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Thunder forward Chet Holmgren got his flowers from Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson as the top rim protector in the NBA after Monday's 136-104 win. Atkinson called out his team for making poor offensive decisions, with Holmgren roaming the paint.
“We got the rim 19 times in the first half. We got to the paint. We got to the rim,” Atkinson said. “I’m kind of disappointed with how we read the rim, right? They got Chet Holmgren in there. He’s probably the number one rim protector in the league, and we didn’t kick it out. We have to understand. It was physicality and force, but I also think it was our reads in the game. We didn’t read the game right. The decision-making was troubling.”
The Thunder will conclude its four-game road trip on Wednesday against the Bucks.