The Oklahoma City Thunder’s 140-114 win over the San Antonio Spurs had eyes drawn to it but for an individual matchup instead of the actual contest.
Being dubbed a rivalry, the matchup between rookie seven-footers Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama was broadcast on ESPN for a national audience.
It took a bit, but the inconsequential fourth quarter finally provided the sparks most fans hoped for when tuning into the lopsided contest. Holmgren and Wembanyama exchanged jabs and buckets before both were pulled with a little under seven minutes left in the game.
In the end, Holmgren finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Wembanyama had 24 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks.
Both rookies will battle it out the rest of the season to determine a winner of the Rookie of the Year award. Beyond that, both will likely be linked with each other due to their similarities for the rest of their careers.
Let’s look at some of the best reactions on X, formerly known as Twitter of the Chet vs. Wemby matchup.
This was *only* the first six minutes of the 4th quarter of Chet vs. Wemby tonight. pic.twitter.com/ciErBeoxVH
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) January 25, 2024
It’s pretty perfect that Chet is a +11 and Wemby is a -11
— Andrew Schlecht (@AndrewKSchlecht) January 25, 2024
Chet on the Chet v. Wemby narrative pic.twitter.com/vVeO7ClVGi
— 𝗔𝗱𝗱𝗮𝗺 𝗠. 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼 (@AddamFrancisco) January 25, 2024
Victor Wembanyama is now 0-4 against Chet Holmgren head to head
Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t 😅 pic.twitter.com/SGcU79HOqf
— ThunderChets (@ThunderChats) January 25, 2024
Chet fighting down low with Wemby, steals the entry pass & takes it coast to coast pic.twitter.com/Vts4ygLXeU
— Thunder Film Room (@ThunderFilmRoom) January 25, 2024
Chet Holmgren, asked whether his competitive edge ever sees the Vic matchup slip into his mind, sounds off: "It's obviously like human nature. But to really be uncommon and not just do whatever else does, you have to kind of fight that. Obviously that's the headline that you guys…
— Joel Lorenzi (@jxlorenzi) January 25, 2024
God I love Chet man.
he’s been pretty nonchalant tonight but that dunk & stare down from Wemby really got him going.
Didn’t back down. I LOVE IT
— Thunder Film Room (@ThunderFilmRoom) January 25, 2024
Wemby reading all those books looking for a way to stop losing to Chet Holmgren 😭 pic.twitter.com/eFWNa300GP
— ThunderChets (@ThunderChats) January 25, 2024
Rookie battle tonight:
Wemby — Chet —
24 PTS 17 PTS
12 REB 9 REB
4 BLK 3 BLKThe Thunder won by double-digits. pic.twitter.com/1Tp6lK8FES
— StatMuse (@statmuse) January 25, 2024
“It’s not Chet vs Wemby, it’s Thunder vs Spurs” and the Thunder obliterated them.
pic.twitter.com/W0lsWVN3F3— THE UNCONTESTED PODCAST (@The_Uncontested) January 25, 2024
y'all can enjoy wemby-chet, we seeing Aaron Wiggins right?
— TF (@ThunderFocus) January 25, 2024
ESPN's Andraya Carter trying to ask Mark Daigneault about Chet vs Wemby during the quarter break:
"It's Thunder vs Spurs tonight."
Every OKC fan and media member knew that answer was coming.
— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) January 25, 2024
