The NBA world is in shock about the news of Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren.
It was announced that Holmgren will miss the entirety of his first season due to a Lisfranc injury in his right foot.
Obviously, this is now the news that Thunder fans wanted and it absolutely decimates the team’s chances in the new year.
Chet Holmgren is expected to miss the 2022-2023 season with a Lisfranc injury in his right foot, per @wojespn pic.twitter.com/NivaPnavzH
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 25, 2022
Holmgren injured himself during a pro-am game over the weekend as he attempted to block LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.
While the injury didn’t appear to be too bad at first, that clearly wasn’t the case and now the seven-foot prospect is out for the entire season.
As you can imagine, there was a lot of emotion after the announcement.
There was despair, shock, and also some hope related to Holmgren’s diagnosis.
Keeping Hope Alive
OKC expert Brandon Rahbar probably put it best in his tweet about the situation.
Chet Holmgren missing the entire season is awful news.
Feel terrible for Chet, his teammates and OKC fans.
Landing the #2 pick and Holmgren had brought a renewed excitement to OKC so this stings.
But the future is still very bright for Chet and the Thunder. https://t.co/idhZPvMgRV
— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) August 25, 2022
He commented how Holmgren’s addition to the team brought “a renewed excitement to OKC” but he also reminded people that “the future is still very bright for Chet and the Thunder.”
That is true but fans really didn’t want to wait a couple more years to see that bright future.
Other people online were quick to note that Holmgren won’t be the first rookie who misses his debut year and then still becomes a great NBA player.
Praying for Chet Holmgren. That’s tough. I hope he comes back healthier than ever and better than ever. Joel Embiid sat out during his early career and became an MVP caliber player. Hoping the same for Chet. pic.twitter.com/n0tsXWr10F
— Swipa (@SwipaCam) August 25, 2022
Sure enough, some of the biggest names in the game actually sat out their entire rookie year because of injuries.
This should bring comfort to Holmgren and his fans because excellent things are still ahead, they’re just going to have to wait quite a bit longer.
Reminder that Chet Holmgren potentially missing his rookie season due to injury isn’t the end of the world pic.twitter.com/Rt7E4klQnG
— Slam Studios 🏀 (@slamstudios) August 24, 2022
Finally, NBA writer Keith Smith made a fair point: many people are decrying pro-am games because that’s how Holmgren got hurt.
But he points out that NBA stars are always playing the game somewhere and the pro-am games aren’t really the enemy here.
Beyond the injury itself, the crappy part of Chet Holmgren getting injured is that many are already screaming about “damn pro-am!”
Guys are playing somewhere all the time. This one just happened to be seen by a ton of people. Lots of guys get hurt in private runs. It happens.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) August 24, 2022
You can expect that a lot more feelings will surface around this situation in the months ahead, especially as the Thunder surely struggle without Holmgren.