There was a time when strong, bruiser centers like Shaquille O'Neal and Patrick Ewing dominated the NBA. That era is long gone.
Now, much thinner big men are sought after because of their ability to stretch the floor and contribute outside the paint. Oklahoma City Thunder's Chet Holmgren and San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama are two examples of players who perfectly fit this archetype. Holmgren is 7-foot-1, 208 pounds while Wembanyama is 7-foot-3, 235 pounds.
While neither will evolve into an O'Neal or Ewing-like player, there is likely a desire from the coaching staff and trainers to add a level of muscle mass. A video of Holmgren working out recently went viral because of the underwhelming size of the weights used in the video.
It first appears that Holmgren is bench pressing 20-pound dumbbells, but a closer look suggests a much different result. When analyzing the dumbbells, as many responses to the post have pointed out, the weights more likely read 28 kg, which is equivalent to just under 62 pounds.
Still, the clip amassed more than 500,000 views on X in less than a day, so not everyone picked up on this detail. Others decide to trash Holmgren and the modern idea of big man, including the person who posted the clip.
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""The game has evolved" Yea the big men bench 20 lbs today 😂 Keep your soft "evolved" game ✌🏻," the author of the post wrote.
One fan had no problem going after Holmgren specifically, writing, "To be fair, Chet is a LITERAL toothpick."
"He's not even going down all the way," another user shared. "Pretty sure my 9 year old daughter could do that."
Misconceptions are incredibly common on social media, and it seems this is yet another example of that. As long as Holmgren takes another leap in the 2025-2026 campaign, Thunder fans have nothing to stress or complain about.
For more on the Oklahoma City Thunder and general NBA news, head over to Newsweek Sports.
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