Inside Chet Holmgren’s Season From The Sideline

The Oklahoma City Thunder took a huge step in the right direction this summer when they selected Chet Holmgren with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. A true cornerstone talent, the 7-footer was set to immediately start at center for the rebuilding Thunder and form a young, rising trio alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey.

However, his rookie campaign has been pushed out a year following a season-ending foot injury suffered at a pro-am event over the summer. A Lisfranc injury to his right foot will keep Holmgren out for the entire 2022-23 season.

On a positive note, there’s a good chance that this injury won’t affect him once fully recovered. This has emerged as a fairly common sports injury with a high success rate upon return to action.

While Holmgren won’t be taking the floor this season, there’s still a huge opportunity for him to improve leading up to his NBA debut at the start of the 2023-24 campaign.

Just days after his foot surgery, the Gonzaga product had already started putting in work. He had began lifting weights for upper body strength and shooting a basketball, which was completely fine as long as he didn’t put weight on the injured foot.

“I can pretty much work out anything that’s not putting weight to my foot,” Holmgren told the media at a recent presser.

One of the main things the No. 2 pick needs to improve on to reach his ceiling is adding weight and strength. While he won’t be able to put an emphasis on his lower half and base in the near future, this is a great opportunity for him to start eating the right way and focus on strengthening his upper body and gaining weight.

Holmgren is wise for a 19-year-old and has the right mindset as he continues his recovery journey.

“Recovery is going great,” Holmgren said during training camp. “I just want to take it one day at a time and really maximize my time.”

The 7-footer disclosed that even though he wasn’t necessarily a part of the Thunder’s practices during camp, he was at the facility from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day cheering on his teammates, evaluating from the sideline and then ultimately putting in his own work on the side.

It’s important for Holmgren to stay close to the team over the next year so that he can learn his teammates, the Thunder system and what it’s like to play at the NBA level.

“It’s great to be able to learn and get better in any capacity that I can,” the rookie said during camp. “I’m trying to soak up the knowledge of how things are done around here so when I get back in there I can seamlessly plug myself in.”

Although he was on a scooter for several weeks following his foot surgery, that didn’t hold Holmgren back from working on his craft. He’s an extremely hard worker and still found ways to work on his shot in preparation for next season.

It’s important to note that Holmgren won’t be traveling on every road trip with the team this season, which allows him to maximize his time ensuring a speedy and successful recovery.

“He’s going to be able to reallocate his time,” said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault. “He’s not playing in games, which is a huge amount of your time. Not only in the weight room, but in a holistic way.”

With that in mind, he did travel to Minnesota for Oklahoma City’s home opener against the Timberwolves, visiting his home state to see friends and family. This was one of our first looks at Holmgren working out on the court still in a boot, but without his scooter.

It’s incredible to see a 7-footer as smooth as Holmgren take one-legged fade shots from all over the court during his recovery. While he’s not able to undergo full workouts with both feet, it’s clear he’s still able to work on certain moves and add to his offensive repertoire this early in the process.

This isn’t the first time an elite talent and high draft pick has missed their entire first NBA season. Guys like Joel Embiid and Blake Griffin were put in similar situations due to injury and turned out just fine.

In fact, Holmgren spent time this summer before suffering the injury in the gym working with Embiid. After having surgery, he was in contact with both Embiid and his training staff getting advice about what he could to do continue improving and be a better player when this is all over.

“It’s always great to look at something and know it’s been done before. It’s not some impossible feat,” said Holmgren when asked if he’s looked at players like Embiid and Griffin as analogs for his own situation.

Even off the court, a huge part of getting acquainted to the NBA is learning to be a professional when games aren’t happening. During the grind of an 82-game season, there’s a ton of travel and other commitments all season long.

The veteran of the team is center Mike Muscala, who’s also a Minnesota native and will be a key mentor for Holmgren this year. When asked about how the rookie can improve this season while injured, Muscala had good insight.

“Just to be around the teams. Be around the practices and the games,” said the 31-year-old. “He’s a smart guy and has a high level of awareness. I think just to soak it all in. Watching film. Being in the weight room.”

The life of an NBA player is fast-paced and something no player entering the league at Holmgren’s age has ever experienced.

“It just comes down to putting my mental energy towards it and becoming a professional off the court,” said Holmgren.

Outside of learning to be a professional, Holmgren is also becoming a true student of the game. In fact, Daigneault called him a “film junkie” at Media Day, saying the 7-footer is already to the point where he is cutting his own film.

This recovery program is all a completely new scenario for Holmgren, who hasn’t been injury prone in the past. Despite having a slender build all of his life, he’s been durable and this is the first major injury of his career.

“I’ve never had a serious injury in my life, so I had nothing to base it off of or compare it to,” said Holmgren.

Regardless, the Thunder have a great plan in place with their new unicorn prospect. As he improves physically over the next year and soaks in what it’s like to be a professional and play in the NBA, don’t be surprised when Holmgren comes out next season and looks like one of the best young players in the entire league.

“As good of a player as he is and as excited as we are about him, he’s an unfinished product,” Daigneault said recently. “He’s got a long way to go in a lot of different areas. He knows that, it’s part of the reason why we love him. He’s gonna invest himself in those areas and set himself apart as far as he can for when the ball is back in his hands.”

We’re about a year out from Holmgren’s regular season debut, but he’s doing all of the right things to set himself up for success when that day comes.