Sept. 12, 2026, 9:05 p.m. CT
After a four-point goose egg in a Game 7, expect a summer filled with ridicule. Chet Holmgren is going through that as the Oklahoma City Thunder fell to the San Antonio Spurs in the 2026 Western Conference Finals. As an All-NBA talent, he submitted a no-show job that Kawhi Leonard would blush over.
The NBA world has ostracized Holmgren. Never mind the fact that he’s a one-time NBA champion, All-Star, All-NBA member and Defensive Player of the Year runner-up. Sure, he’s objectively a successful and decorated player through three seasons. But none of that matters to the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately culture that’s fixated in the sports world.
Holmgren has trended for all of the wrong reasons on social media since June. And frankly, that narrative is going to stick with him until he finally conquers his demons. The Thunder must best the Spurs. And on the way to doing that, Holmgren has to play like an All-NBA member against Victor Wembanyama.
Until then, though, Holmgren just has to eat the verbal punches. He’s even receiving some friendly fire. In Jared McCain’s latest YouTube vlog, he poked fun at his Thunder teammate over his NBA 2K27 strength rating. He’s a 45 overall in that department — feeding into the memes that he’s too skinny to be a successful NBA player.
Once again, never mind all of *frantically waves arms over Holmgren’s entire body of work and list of accomplishments* this.
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As several Thunder players recently had a Dallas road trip together to work out at the TCU campus and then hang out, Holmgren was asked about OKC’s teammate chemistry. He graded the intangible element as ‘top tier.’ McCain then chimed in to troll his teammate.
“It’s definitely better than Chet’s strength on 2K,” McCain joked with a smile.
For what it’s worth, Holmgren was a good sport about the jab. The seven-footer even played into it and challenged McCain to an arm-wrestling contest — one of humankind’s oldest and bravado-est ways to measure pure strength. Instead, both parties laughed it off.
Funny to see that McCain poked fun at one of Holmgren’s ongoing online jokes. But if you’re the All-NBA member, you’re hoping that his reputation doesn’t get permanently tarnished because of one bad playoff series. The first step to getting up and dusting yourself off? Helping the Thunder beat the Spurs on Opening Night.
