This is an excerpt from Berry Tramel's Tuesday ScissorTales. Read it in its entirety here.
Chet Holmgren was born on May 1, 2002, in Minneapolis, three days after the Minnesota Timberwolves were eliminated from the NBA playoffs. The T-Wolves made it back to the playoffs in 2003 and 2004, even reaching the latter year’s Western Conference Finals.
Then the Timberwolves went to the playoffs once in the next 18 years.
“Man, it’s amazing,” Holmgren said Sunday. “Growing up, Minnesota was never in the playoffs. That atmosphere was never there in the city. So I’m sure it’s insane right now.”
Insane for Minneapolis. Insane for Holmgren. He’s going home. The Thunder and Timberwolves meet in the Western Conference Finals, starting Tuesday night in OKC. Game 3 in Minneapolis is Saturday night.
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“It’ll be great to be able to play,” Holmgren said. “Anytime I go home and play, it’s great to be able to play in front of friends, family, old coaches, old teammates. I never take it for granted. It’s definitely kind of full circle.”
Holmgren’s first game in the NBA was scheduled for Minneapolis. He was the second overall pick in the 2022 draft, and the Thunder’s 2022-23 season opener was set for Minnesota. But Holmgren suffered the broken foot that sidelined him the entire season.
“Kind of makes it feel all worth it, coming back to it,” Holmgren said. “And now we’re here.”
Holmgren, the son of 1980s University of Minnesota 7-foot basketball player Dave Holmgren, was a sixth-grade teammate of Jalen Suggs. They eventually played together at Minnehaha Academy, where Holmgren eventually became the top recruit in the 2021 class. Holmgren followed Suggs to Gonzaga and now is a Thunder cornerstone.
Holmgren has played four Thunder games in Minneapolis, splitting two each of the previous two seasons He’s averaged 11.75 points and 10.75 rebounds, while shooting 46.8% from the field.
berry.tramel@tulsaworld.com
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