“Adam Silver sends league-wide memo just asking players where the f**k they want to play”, "Sam Presti about to sue The Onion" - NBA Reddit reacts as The Onion mocks Chet Holmgren after season-ending injury
The Oklahoma City Thunder's second overall draft pick, Chet Holmgren, will miss the entire 2022-23 season with a Lisfranc injury to his right foot. Holmgren suffered the injury during a CrawsOver pro-am game in Seattle on Saturday while attempting to defend LeBron James in transition.
Chet holmgren is really out the whole year after guarding lebron once for 10 seconds in a pro am game https://t.co/O5jjrKsN0F
The Onion, an American satirical-content digital media company, published an article mocking Holmgren's predicament. In the article, they joked that Holmgren has assured fans "he’ll be back and perfectly healthy for 9 games next year."
Chet Holmgren Assures Fans He’ll Be Back And Perfectly Healthy For 9 Games Next Year bit.ly/3AnHHMA https://t.co/naBQraYILQ
Fans on Reddit were quick to weigh in with their opinion, with many joining in on the ridicule.
However disappointing, Chet Holmgren's injury shouldn't come as a surprise
Right from the start, Chet Holmgren's only downside was his weight. Despite being 7-foot tall, Holmgren weighs just 195 pounds, likely due to his rail-thin figure.
To understand how severely underweight Holmgren is, we don't need to look any further than Donovan Mitchell, who is listed at 6-foot-1 and weighs 215 lbs. While Holmgren's shooting has drawn comparisons to Kevin Durant's, the Nets star weighed 212 lbs in his rookie year.
Holmgren was considered an elite shot blocker in high school and college. He averaged 4.7 blocks per game in high school and 3.7 in college. Holmgren lived up to the hype in the Summer League, averaging 2.7 BPG.
However, bulkier players bullied Holmgren in the low-post during the Summer League. The most notable of these instances came against Memphis' Kenneth Lofton Jr.
Well, Kenny Lofton Jr absolutely went at Chet Holmgren on the first play. https://t.co/6tmjn3rYfG
Lofton, at 6-foot-7, weighs 275 lbs (80 lbs heavier than Holmgren) and dominated the Thunder player physically in their match-up.
As for Holmgren, he joins Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, Blake Griffin and Greg Oden on the list of players to miss their rookie season.