Chet Holmgren Gets Brutally Honest About Victor Wembanyama Beef

Chet Holmgren was the second-best rookie in the NBA last season. With averages of 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 2.3 blocks per outing, he often looked like the second-best young big man in the league.

If the term ‘second-best’ looks like a reoccurring theme with Holmgren, it is because it is.

Despite his best efforts, Holmgren was constantly overshadowed by San Antonio Spurs rookie, Victor Wembanyama.

Wembanyama averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 3.6 blocks per outing last season, and he looked every bit the generational talent he was originally billed as.

A lot of debates raged last year regarding who was superior between Holmgren and Wembanyama. Paul George’s selection between the two went particularly viral. But overall, most agreed that Wembanyama was the superior player.

Because of how often they are compared, many have taken to wondering whether a beef exists between Wembanyama and Holmgren. This week, Holmgren attempted to address that topic.

“I’ll just say, us being competitors, we played against each other before we were even in the NBA,” he said.

“But people be like, ‘Y’all got beef?’ I’m like, ‘Beef? We’re out there comPeting, but beef? Beef means, when I see you, we’re fighting.”

Holmgren then doubled down on the idea of his relationship with Wembanyama not being that serious.

“I don’t got beef with him,” Holmgren continued.

“I honestly don’t even know the guy; we just play basketball against each other.”

It feels like the NBA has a really fun budding rivalry developing between Wembanyama and Holmgren. Will it usher in a generation of truly great big man play in the league going forward? Time will tell.

Carlos Garcia

A longtime Sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB Games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.