Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren has dazzled throughout his rookie season, averaging 16.9 points per game while playing some of the best defense by a first-year player in recent memory.
On Thursday, Holmgren summed up his magical opening act in one play against the Los Angeles Clippers. During the third quarter of the Thunder’s resounding 134–115 win, Holmgren tossed the ball off the backboard, caught it, and dunked it to give Oklahoma City the lead.
“That was just—I don’t know where it came from,” Holmgren said when asked whether the self alley-oop bore any specific player’s influence. “That was an at-the-park move, just growing up hooping at the courts wherever I was. I guess it just happened.”
"I don’t really know where that came from.” 🤷♂️
– Chet on his self oop pic.twitter.com/MkyzSeMtir
— NBA (@NBA) December 22, 2023
“It just happened” works as an encapsulation of the Thunder’s sudden quantum leap from lottery purgatory to one of the NBA’s most exciting teams. At 17–8, Oklahoma City in on pace to post its best record since 2014.
Should that come to pass, the Thunder would have the lanky Gonzaga product’s mesmerizing two-way game to thank.
