{"id":479,"date":"2026-05-18T16:07:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T16:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usrelocationpost.com\/?p=479"},"modified":"2026-05-18T16:07:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T16:07:08","slug":"victor-wembanyama-chet-holmgren-rivalry-addressed-before-game-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usrelocationpost.com\/?p=479","title":{"rendered":"Victor Wembanyama-Chet Holmgren Rivalry Addressed Before Game 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

The No. 2 seed San Antonio Spurs will face off against the No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder in a highly-anticipated Western Conference Finals matchup, starting with Game 1 on Monday night.<\/p>

Read more James Talarico\u2019s Chances Against Cornyn vs. Paxton a Week Before Runoff<\/a><\/p>

This matchup features several intriguing storylines, including the long-standing rivalry between Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren.<\/p>

Wembanyama and Holmgren battled on the international stage before they began their respective NBA careers, with Team USA defeating France in the U19 FIBA World Cup Final in 2021. As 7-footers with guard-like skillsets, the two young players were often compared and pitted against each other.<\/p>

Holmgren entered the league one year before Wembanyama as the Thunder’s No. 2 overall pick in 2022, but was unable to take the court for his rookie season due to injury. Holmgren finished second in Rookie of the Year voting behind Wembanyama in 2023-24.<\/p>

Read more Ketanji Brown Jackson Dissents in Native Americans Voting Rights Case<\/a><\/p>

This season, Holmgren finished second in Defensive Players of the Year voting behind Wembanyama \u2014 who was awarded the honor unanimously.<\/p>

\n
\"Chet<\/figure>\n<\/div>
…<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>

More Basketball:<\/strong> Pistons\u2019 Cade Cunningham Sends Blunt Message After Game 7 Loss<\/p>

Thunder forward Jaylin Williams was asked about the rivalry before Game 1.<\/p>

\u201cI think Chet\u2019s an All-NBA, All-Defense guy in this league. He\u2019s an All-Star. Every night, regardless of who we’re playing, who he’s lined up against, he takes the same approach,” Williams said. “I don’t think anybody on our team wakes up because we’re playing the Spurs. We\u2019re waking up because we’re in the playoffs and want to be the best version of ourselves.\u201d<\/p>

More Basketball:<\/strong> Myles Turner Doesn\u2019t Hold Back on Bucks Culture Under Doc Rivers<\/p>

Read more Pistons\u2019 Cade Cunningham Sends Blunt Message After Game 7 Loss<\/a><\/p>

Game 1 will tipoff at 8:30 p.m. ET on Monday.<\/p><\/article>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The San Antonio Spurs will face off against the Oklahoma City Thunder in a highly-anticipated Western Conference Finals matchup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nVictor Wembanyama-Chet Holmgren Rivalry Addressed Before Game 1 - US Relocation Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usrelocationpost.com\/?p=479\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Victor Wembanyama-Chet Holmgren Rivalry Addressed Before Game 1 - US Relocation Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The San Antonio Spurs will face off against the Oklahoma City Thunder in a highly-anticipated Western Conference Finals matchup.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usrelocationpost.com\/?p=479\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"US Relocation Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-18T16:07:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/usrelocationpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c64a40d0c9cc2532aeef0929babc1f93.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usrelocationpost.com\\\/?p=479#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usrelocationpost.com\\\/?p=479\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usrelocationpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e0d67e3b0d3c1ffefd8ff92add2033bd\"},\"headline\":\"Victor Wembanyama-Chet Holmgren Rivalry Addressed Before Game 1\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-18T16:07:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usrelocationpost.com\\\/?p=479\"},\"wordCount\":313,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usrelocationpost.com\\\/?p=479#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usrelocationpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c64a40d0c9cc2532aeef0929babc1f93.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/usrelocationpost.com\\\/?p=479#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usrelocationpost.com\\\/?p=479\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usrelocationpost.com\\\/?p=479\",\"name\":\"Victor Wembanyama-Chet Holmgren Rivalry Addressed Before Game 1 - 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