His father trains a camcorder on the court. Their teacher, a peppy instructor wearing a headset that blares her instructions over a pair of speakers, stands atop a stage and orders, March it out. He was guarding @KingJames one-on-one. His coordination powered his progression. Unicorn is an overused sports clich. He will still be eligible for the Rookie of the Year Award, and he was enticed by the potential for competing against another skinny, skilled seven-footer, Victor Wembanyama. Perhaps this signals maturity or a grasp on his most important class, the basketball-science seminar at P3. Despite playing only 26.9 minutes per game, Holmgren averaged 14.1 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.7 blocks. Another: The risk stratification modelconvoluted science speak for $1,000, Alex!produced a 3-D model of The Unicorns frame. They study how basketball players move: hunting for weaknesses, imbalances and anything that portends future injury. Derek Jeter Tino Martinez Aaron Judge Gleyber Torres Miguel Andujar Mariano Rivera Luis Severino Khris Davis Matt Chapman Rickey Henderson Ken Griffey Jr. Yusei Kikuchi Justus Sheffield Ichiro Edgar Martinez Blake Snell Austin Meadows Jose Canseco Joey Gallo Nomar Mazara Ivan Rodriguez Rowdy Tellez Danny Jansen Roy Halladay Randy Johnson Zack Greinke Robbie Ray Chipper Jones Ronald Acua Jr . Sometimes, when Elliott hears endless debates over what he refers to as the weight-versus-resiliency equation, he wonders why outlier equates to problem. The same bloviators who say a 300-pound center is too heavy to join the legion of NBA leapers now collapse in concern over a 195-pound post who, they insist, cant be that skinny and survive. I feel I can do everything, or get to that point, on offense and defense.. Or explain to them why their knees hurt. His pain vanished. Having a number 1 pick lead the bench and fight for his minutes could be a big thing. And, while he would never describe himself that way, the moniker doesnt bother him. It was more impactful for him to leap, soar, absorb contact, contort and block shots to waiting teammates for easy transition buckets. "You know, kids are kids, and when Chet walked into the gym for the first time, it could have been, 'What's this geeky white kid doing in here?' The Thunder selected Holmgren No. The results (quite well) formed a better baseline than anticipated. Stakes, raised. Although he's progressing in his recovery, he'll still be forced to miss the entire year. 2 overall pick suffers a Lisfranc injury to his right foot and will miss the entire upcoming season. With Larry, he helped turn the awesomely named AAU outfitGrassroots Sizzleinto a force. and was successful. His win shares per 40 minutes was .294, fourth in the nation. Bazley is an athletic wing player and Mann was an explosive scorer off the bench. The No. Biggest thing since Penny and Shaq.") Efficiency models fell in love. They suggest not only NBA success but also career longevity. Hes not actively pushing anything. Clemente Almanza. I needed to see.". ", In a pre-draft interview with the NBA's social media team, Holmgren was asked to identify the biggest misconceptions about him: "I actually do lift weights and I actually do eat food." Chet Holmgren, 19 years old, 7 ft 1 tall with 7 ft 6 wingspan, 2022 NBA Draft Class. He was Suggss proof of concept, part savant, part fast learner, all unicorn. 5 selection in 2011 not being able to join the Toronto Raptors until a year later because of his contract status with his European team at the time. "I thought I was good because I played rec league before," Holmgren says, "but then I walked in there, and everybody was actually good. ! as if he were directly responding to my uncle as Gonzaga boat raced then No. Gonzaga's Chet Holmgren is a potential No. 1 picks. He does not. He had never been forced to slow down before. Red ones indicate injury red flags. But he answers questions honestly, and he honestly believes that someone could stack several Chet Holmgrens atop one another and the highest head still wouldnt touch his ceiling. By middle school, a growth spurt had inflamed tendinitis in both knees. Or is this moment -- the promise, the hope, the horizon-length vision of what Chet Holmgren could be -- destined to be the main event? 12 pick in the 2003 draft by Seattle, unable to play that following season with shoulder issues. Bad news: Looks like Chet rolled his ankle on the play and came out of the game. 1 basketball recruit, commits to Gonzaga More With his mother Sarah at his side, Chet Holmgren announces that he will play for the Gonzaga. Trust me.". But at the end of the day, I could let this be a blessing or a curse, you know? 1 pick, were never able to live up to the promise of their draft status. Unless youre Steph Curry, he said, you can always get better.. Holmgren hardly notices the women bending and bouncing, clad in stretch pants and armed with foam rollers, as they warm up for a workout of their own. Hes toiling to realize his evolutionary promise, make sense of what he cannot fully explain and solve a problem that may not, in fact, be one. Either way, theres no precedent, and thats why Holmgren inspires awe and fear. Possibilities that didn't exist seconds before suddenly became possible. Hed rather show than tell. Chet Holmgren, the Oklahoma City Thunder's No. You'd expect those. Stay up to date with NBA player news, rumors, updates, analysis, social feeds, and more at FOX Sports. I then tried to explain why Holmgren is good; that hes a 7-footer with a handle who broke a school record for blocks in his first ever college game. But for Holmgren, being sidelined has posed a novel physical and a mental challenge. Elliott is most interested in athletes whose numbers place them in a group he calls kinematic movers. Theyre typically not flashy in how they jump or run. Movement set up everything else, from crossovers that wobbled defenders to leaps timed to swat shots into the stands. Oklahoma City Thunder star rookie Chet Holmgren will be out for the 2022-23 season after the team announced he suffered a Lisfranc injury to his right foot. Who could he possibly become? Basketball, he says, is movement.. "He's said that a bunch of times," Holmgren says, "and the first time he brought it up to me, I was in middle school. 2 overall in the 2022 NBA draft out of Gonzaga, where he was a consensus All-American in his freshman season with the Bulldogs after averaging 14.1 points, 9.9 . He and Brian Sandifer coached Chet to play by their unique philosophy -- "European basketball with the iso game of the '80s," Suggs says -- which meant the tallest kid on the court was often the Sizzle's point guard. David, a painting contractor, grew up near what is now George Floyd Square, a four-block area that radiates from the spot on the pavement near the corner of Chicago Avenue and East 38th Street where Floyd was killed by police. He's a dominant force that can stretch the floor at 7-feet tall . Unless, that is, he realizes it. The "hur durr KD couldn't bench press was he too skinny for the league?" is a nonsensical response to Holmgren's body being a . And because of what he can be: the next step in an ongoing, leaguewide transformation. I was trying to find every great player I could hoop against, Holmgren said. The next step in this basketball evolution. If I question that, whats the solution next time dont play defense? (Remarkably, eight of them would go on to play Division I football or basketball, and next year two -- both top-5 picks, almost assuredly -- will be in the NBA.) Local advertisementsorganic ice cream, discount car washes, Blenders basketball leaguehang from the walls. Linebacker on his football team. Banchero, Holmgren combine for 84 at pro-am, How 2022 lottery picks fared in Summer League, Summer Standouts: Holmgren shines in Salt Lake City, NBA DFS Picks: Yahoo plays and strategy for Feb. 28, Durant expected to make Suns debut Wednesday, NBA DraftKings & FanDuel DFS Primer: Feb. 28, Scoot Henderson says hes ready for NBA Draft, Kings take action for Black History Month. He can add pounds without losing fluidity; offset weight deficits with agility, lateral speed, angles, elbows and elite change of direction; and become even more creative, the tallest kinematic mover in the NBA. Holmgren set an N.B.A. Holmgren had 14 points, 13 rebounds, and seven blocks in his Gonzaga debut, a 97-63 demolition of Dixie State on Tuesday. . At this point, Chet Holmgren is an experiment without a working hypothesis, a subject without a valid comparison, a true party of one. He has taken up residency in the film room, hoping to understand how he will fit into this Thunder team a year from now. While growing up in suburban Minneapolis, baby Chet managed to climb out of his crib and fall backward, his shenanigans announced with a thud. I could let this be a blessing or a curse, you know? Holmgren said. Chet Holmgren was the runaway choice last year and another Gonzaga forward, Anton Watson, might be deserving this time. It may be a season-ending injury. Nothing in physics accounts for the audacity of an act. For the first half of high school, Holmgrens teams at Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis played without a home gym after a deadly natural gas explosion on campus. Holmgren sustained a Lisfranc injury in late August and has already been ruled out for the entire 2022-23 season. JANUARY 27 ASSOCIATED PRESS. Holmgren already has better defensive instincts than any of the taller players draining threes on the NBA perimeters, according to Packie Turner, his basketball trainer. 6 overall pick in 2021 who made the All-Rookie second team). Not only that, but Chet Holmgren may or may not have arrived at the gym for that first practice wearing cargo shorts -- teammate and friend Cole Ewald says he did -- but there's no question he was gangly and awkward and 8 years old. "Jalen is like a big brother to Chet," Sarah says. They present fewer attackable weaknesses because of elite equilibriums. 2 overall to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2022 NBA Draft, received four votes from his fellow players. Why Im 7 feet tall and I have this coordination that people havent really seen before.. Will Holmgren seize on all that makes him unusual? I definitely know how different people feel, and I know certain things are wrong and shouldn't happen.". Chets immediate reaction was: Dont say it out loud. Physical therapists introduced Holmgren to the concept of movement patterns and how to bolster them. Thats no, um, small thing at his height. He had watched Chet play endless games of one-on-one with Jalen after practices, and he saw the talent gap close every season as the competitive fire -- at times verging on vengeance -- grew. Listed at 7 feet (maybe taller) and 195 pounds, its impossible to deny that Holmgren is skinny. This could all be hype. Drafted 2nd overall in the 2022 NBA draft, he played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs. But at the end of the day, thats just how I play basketball. I wanted to make Chet the best American-born white basketball player since Larry Bird, Suggs says. A lot of times, playing pickup, stuff Ive never worked on just kind of happens, Holmgren says, just kind of comes to me.. Reddit iOS Reddit Android Reddit Premium About Reddit Advertise Blog Careers Press. ", "I saw it in fourth or fifth grade," David Holmgren says. And at the end of the day, if you're white and you're that good, you stick out like a sore thumb. debut for two full seasons after he was drafted but has since become one of the most dominant centers in the league and a candidate for the Most Valuable Player Award. Go right at him and boom, he tells a trainer, mimicking a seated windmill dunk. At 7 feet, 195 lb, Holmgren's unique, lanky frame has some concerned that he'll get injured in the NBA. Just dont say it out loud, his mother, Sarah Harris, said. But it wont matter.. Scouts know how to identify young talent, because its obvious. Is Holmgren the latest iteration of Kevin Durant? One of the things that most impressed us during the process of selecting Chet was his determination and focus. Chet Holmgren fits the young and promising mold in Oklahoma City. They use a jargon-heavy process called principal component analysis to compile data sets from a players movement. But he is not priming for the NBA draft alone. Even on the morning of his first surgery, in late August, he was talking on the phone and doing doughnuts on his knee scooter as he waited to head to the hospital. Oklahoma City forward Chet Holmgren, the No. "He never stops eating," David says. His generational defense, size, and mobility make him. This kid? They had T-shirts printed that read, No gym, no problem. The back half of his high school career and his freshman season at Gonzaga where he averaged 14.1 points, 9.9 rebounds and nearly 4 blocks per game were disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. finals, and Trae Young. . When he was invited to play in Jamal Crawfords CrawsOver Pro-Am, which also featured LeBron James and the 2022 No. The story of Chet Holmgren's evolution as a basketball player might as well begin at the beginning, when legendary Minneapolis-St. Paul AAU coach Larry Suggs -- father of Magic guard and last year's No. Suggs didn't dash off this prediction without thought. And second, think of your worst grammar-school buddy who couldn't play basketball. They dont have asymmetries, or imbalances, meaning theyre less likely to get hurt. They went 24-58 last season. July 12, 2021 5:51am . There's allegedly a lethal George Gervin-style finger roll latent in the skill set, ready to awaken. Chet Holmgren is no stranger to cameras catching a . Holmgrens early test results backed up his nickname. But David says his son's "frustration and anger" overrode the pleas. Enter Larry Suggs, a local AAU coach. He might have just stepped weirdly. He noticed it in Tracy McGrady, a 6' 8" swingman who towered over defenders on the perimeter and blew by them for easy buckets, a precursor to the versatile big men who would move out from under the basket and show off their perimeter skills. . Chet Holmgreen (right foot surgery) is occasionally allowed to move around without wearing a walking boot. When practice was over, Suggs asked Chet, "So, do you think you can play at the level these guys play at? Gonzaga big man Chet Holmgren spoke with Yahoo Sports' Krysten Peek in New York City about potentially being the No. | https://t.co/Jiq9l6EY3W pic.twitter.com/SsGCFueT2q, OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) August 25, 2022, Holmgren joins a list of high draft picks who lost their rookie years to injuries, including Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Blake Griffin. Turner believes Holmgren would make for a hell of a pro if he stood only 6' 6". The success, in turn, morphed Holmgren from tall and awkward into the nations top recruit. NBA.com is part of Warner Media, LLCs Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network, *Translations are limited to select pages. Gilgeous-Alexander, the oldest player in that group, is just short of his 24th birthday. But from the beginning Chet would go straight to Jalen after practice and say, 'Let's play one-on-one.' . Seconds after the truck stopped, Chet called David to pick him up at a gas station. Slim as a sliver, he has a wingspan of nearly 7-foot-5 but could play point. But this body, in those moments, travels the distance from one hoop to the other with both grace and power, two of the last things you'd guess by looking at him. Holmgren continued growing but retained the soul of basketballs tallest point guard. 5 pick and single-season Gonzaga star Jalen Suggs -- got a call from a friend who said, "I've got just what you need: a 6-foot third-grader who can really play. Topps says this is the largest name, image and. Delaney has a video clip on his phone of Holmgren doing a 61-inch box jump, and when he's asked if Holmgren would be able to bench-press 185 -- the amount Durant famously was unable to lift in pre-draft workouts -- Delaney says, "Oh, yeah -- comfortably. "I try to take steps every single day to put my body in the best position for the best possible health on and off the court," Holmgren said. Chet left the house alone, wearing all black, and eventually marched across the Interstate 35W Bridge with hundreds of others just minutes before a semi-truck barreled across the closed roadway and narrowly missed taking out a wall of protesters. Elliott believes those fears stem from the unknown. The Thunder announced. As such, he's subject to a lot of scrutiny. He is one of several key pieces for the Thunder, who are led by guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (24.5 ppg in 2021-22) and Josh Giddey (the No. Gonzaga freshman Chet Holmgren was the top high school recruit in his class and is the presumptive No. Jalen would always say, 'Let's go.'". Feel, and more at FOX Sports around without wearing a walking boot a mental challenge 2021! Top recruit possibilities that did n't exist seconds before suddenly became possible be big. 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