You could watch every single NBA game and still rarely see something like what Chet Holmgren did against the Clippers on Thursday.
During the third quarter, while trailing by one point, the rookie big man hit his defender with a beautiful up-and-under fakeout off the dribble. Then, as it looked like he was going to take a shot near the basket, he instead threw it off the backboard.
This set himself up for a successful dunk that gave the Thunder the lead.
CHET OFF THE BACKBOARD TO HIMSELF 🤯@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/HLxaXrDUxS
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) December 22, 2023
If you didn’t quite catch how wild that was just from the broadcast footage, don’t worry. We have you covered.
Joseph “Jojo” Owen Jr., the photographer and videographer for Holmgren’s Oklahoma City teammate Jalen Williams, captured an even crazier angle of the possession:
Chet Holmgren. pic.twitter.com/Xy9dlvQxFL
— shotbyjojo_ (@Shotbyjojo__) December 22, 2023
After the game, Williams couldn’t believe what he had seen from Holmgren.
Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added that Holmgren is 7-foot tall so he “better” have that in him, though he clarified that he didn’t expect to see it during the game.
Oklahoma City head coach Mark Daigneault told reporters that this isn’t something that they work on during practice and that Holmgren was just “rocking” out there.
Holmgren, who is now the favorite over Victor Wembanyama to win the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 2024, admitted that he had no idea where that decision came from. But we are glad to have seen it.
