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The Oklahoma City Thunder kicked off their NBA Summer League schedule last night with a win over the Jazz in Utah and it didn’t take long for their star rookie, Chet Holmgren, to become the GOAT.
In fact, it took just one game. One awesome game by the No. 2 overall pick in last month’s NBA Draft. One really fun game by the 7-foot-1 former Gonzaga star. Holmgren finished with 23 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 6 blocks and stole the hearts of everyone who stayed up late to watch the game.
I’m kidding about the GOAT talk, of course, because this is just one exhibition game in the summer but if you were on Twitter last night then you likely saw everyone raving about this kid. And rightfully so, he looked really darn good last night. Plus, it’s summer and there isn’t a lot going on in the sports world right now so fans are hungry for anything awesome.
Holmgren delivered that last night in Salt Lake City.
If you missed it, my friend Charles Curtis collected 5 of the best moments from Holmgren’s opening game.
There was a blocked shot by Holmgren on Tacko Fall, the Jazz center who stands at 7-foot-6.
CHET BLOCKED TACKO 😤
(via @NBATV) pic.twitter.com/SpccwQIEBq
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 6, 2022
There were smooth 3-pointers.
Chet Holmgren with the walk-in three over Tacko Fall 💧 pic.twitter.com/LPviyL7gSV
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 6, 2022
There were sweet passes while running the fast break.
✅ Rejection
✅ Run the break
✅ Drop a dime🔥 Chet Holmgren is BALLING 🔥
Q1: 13 PTS, 1 AST, 1 STL, 3 BLK, 3 3PM pic.twitter.com/oLgoGhk1iC— NBA (@NBA) July 6, 2022
Oh, and there were dunks.
CHET HOLMGREN’S FIRST SLAM IN A THUNDER UNIFORM 🤩 pic.twitter.com/CrnZ7M2WaT
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 6, 2022
Like I said before, the kid had himself a very good night in Utah. Also, we’re looking for anything fun in sports right now and we’re all perfectly OK with blowing something way out of proportion – like a summer league performance. That’s just what happens in early July.
But now I can’t wait to see more from Holmgren and I’m looking even more forward to seeing what he can do against NBA lineups once the regular season starts and things really matter.
I’m also thinking how fun it would be if the Thunder could somehow bring back Kevin Durant and pair him up with Holmgren. They’d have the longest lineup ever.
Yeah, that probably isn’t going to happen but this is the type of stuff that goes through my head when there isn’t a ton of stuff going on in the summer.
But now we’ve got the NBA Summer League and the new GOAT, which works for me.
LOL.
Quick hits: Ump’s hilariously casual ejection of Tony La Russa… Evans thought he was being trolled by Brady… Joey Chestnut now one of our best athletes… And more.
– This umpire in Chicago the other night had the most casual ejection motion that you’ll ever see and MLB fans had a lot of jokes about it.
– Mike Evans revealed the texts that Tom Brady sent him when the QB was deciding to come back to the NFL and the WR admitted that he thought the GOAT was trolling him.
– Just a reminder – Joey Chestnut is now one of the greatest athletes of our time.
– Novak Djokovic became a hilarious meme during his match yesterday at Wimbledon.
