Oklahoma City big man Chet Holmgren will miss the 2022-2023 regular season following a partial ligament tear in his right foot. The No. 2 pick in this year’s draft suffered the injury at an exhibition game in Seattle over the weekend.
Holmgren played alongside LeBron James and Jayson Tatum at Jamal Crawford’s pro-am event, a game that was cut short over concerns of unsafe playing conditions. Holmgren appeared to have initially hurt his foot during a breakaway defensive effort guarding James.
There’s fear Chet Holmgren has suffered ligament damage in his foot, per @ShamsCharania
Here’s the play:
(🎥 @AhnFireDigital )
pic.twitter.com/CkRCO1MOO5— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) August 24, 2022
Thunder executive vice president and general manager Sam Presti released a statement shortly after news broke of Holmgren’s injury. He relayed a sense of both sympathy and calm.
“Certainly, we are disappointed for Chet, especially given the excitement he had about getting on the floor with his teammates this season. We know Chet has a long career ahead of him within our organization and the Oklahoma City community.
One of the things that most impressed us during the process of selecting Chet was his determination and focus. We expect the same tenacity will carry him through this period of time as we work together and support him during his rehab.”
As many were quick to point out, Holmgren is not the only high-profile big man to suffer devastating injuries before their rookie season. Joel Embiid and Blake Griffin immediately come to mind, but many others have faced similar speed bumps.
Best wishes and a speedy recovery, Chet.
