The Victor Wembanyama-Chet Holmgren rivalry isn’t one at all. The playoffs are proving that fact. The media just wants us to believe there’s a rivalry between players, not the true rivalry between teams that it actually is.
Talking heads need topics to discuss. They wouldn’t get paid if they didn’t have those, and if they didn’t have topics, they wouldn’t get ratings, which is ultimately what they desire, at least on television.
Rivalries should be reserved for players on similar levels
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Rivalries between players can be legendary. Think Magic and Bird, Jordan and Isaiah. Rivalries with teams can be even better—Lakers/Celtics, Knicks/Heat in the 90s, Bulls/Pistons when Jordan was coming up. Rivalries have elements to them that make fans remember big plays and players the opposing team hated.
The pundits have fabricated this rivalry between big men, however. There’s a clear top player between the two, and this post-season has proven that. Holmgren is averaging 16 points on 12 shots per game during the playoffs. The Thunder, mighty in the regular season, have noticed a downtick in their play, which, to be fair, is to be expected in the playoffs as the games matter more.
The Thunder won Game 4 of their series against Denver with Holmgren scoring only eight points. The Spurs wouldn't be pulling out high-stakes games with Wembanyama scoring that same number.
Holmgren averaged 15 points per game in the regular season, to go along with eight rebounds a night. He’s a third option for the Thunder, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a clear top option (and one of the best players in the NBA) and Jalen Williams their second option.
Wembanyama is the clear top option for San Antonio. There’s no question of that. He averaged 24.3 points per game this season to go along with 11 rebounds per game. He averaged nearly 4 blocks per game (3.8) as well. Holmgren averaged 2.2 per game. Wembanyama averaged more assists per game than Holmgren 3.7 to 2.0.
The Spurs are building around Wembanyama. He’s the cornerstone of the franchise, and likely the league over the next decade. The Thunder, on the other hand, are building pieces around SGA, not Holmgren.
This isn’t to say that Holmgren isn’t going to be a quality player in the NBA, but the idea that these players have a legitimate statistical rivalry is laughable. The only comparisons to make are that they were drafted a year apart and share a similar, tall, skinny stature.
Wembanyama is clearly the superior player so focus on Spurs/OKC
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The real rivalry is that of the teams—San Antonio against Oklahoma City. The Thunder are further along at the moment than the Spurs are, admittedly, but the brand of basketball the Spurs are building will have them in contention deep into May and June for many years moving forward.
The Thunder are going to be a team the Spurs will have to get past if they hope to add more Larry O’Brien trophies to the case inside Frost Bank Center.
The Spurs have the clear advantage when comparing big men. With the second overall pick in this year’s draft, [they hope to add another player](https://airalamo.com/spurs-may-unthinkable-major-draft-night-gamble) who can challenge SGA for supremacy.
As the teams get older and the players mature, the player rivalry could blossom between Wemby and Holmgren, but for now, the clear top player in this battle is wearing Silver and Black.