Chet Holmgren's post-game comments prove why he's bound for stardom

The OKC Thunder took care of business during Thursday's opener against the Denver Nuggets, putting forth stout efforts on both ends of the floor that, ultimately, paved the way toward a commanding 102-87 victory.

To no surprise, the usual suspects for Oklahoma City played major roles in leading the ball club to this lopsided outcome. Jalen Williams was a steady two-way force for the squad. On top of his traditional bag of tricks, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander showcased his newly developed pull-up game.

However, arguably the most noteworthy takeaway from the contest was the sensational play by rising stud big man, Chet Holmgren.

While there were some fears over his ability to keep up with his behemoth of an assignment in Nikola Jokic, in roughly 36 minutes played on the night one could realistically make the case that he outperformed the three-time MVP.

From his tremendous scoring efficiency to his outstanding defensive efforts, the Rookie of the Year runner-up seemed to display quite a number of improvements in his repertoire after a full offseason of training.

However, despite the easy speculation that his opening night showing was a "sign" that his efforts over the summer are paying off, Holmgren kept himself humble during his post-game media session.

Thunder star Chet Holmgren keeps himself humble after huge night

"I don't like summing up four months of work in one play or one quarter or one game. I still have so much farther to go. Success isn't linear. Just because I worked super hard it doesn't mean I'm guaranteed to be able to do this or do that. I just have to continue to stick at it and know that if I do it long enough and I work hard enough I'm going to end up where I need to end up," Holmgren said.

After a sensational debut season with the Thunder, one where he averaged impressive per-game averages of 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 2.3 blocks on 53.0 percent shooting from the floor and 37.0 percent shooting from distance, Holmgren was frequently found putting in work behind closed doors throughout the offseason in preparation for an even better sophomore run.

With this drive, many are predicting that the 22-year-old is bound to explode into stardom in 2024-25, and, Thursday night, it appeared that he's well on his way toward doing exactly that in year two.

Holmgren would cap off the opener with an awe-inspiring stat line of 25 points, 14 rebounds (4 offensive), 5 assists, 2 steals, and 4 blocks while shooting 61.1 percent from the floor.

Though his long-range jumper may have been off (went 0-for-5 from beyond the arc), his comments on how he has "so much farther to go" should inspire hope that he'll be able to correct this lowly metric moving forward -- after all, he did put in the time this offseason to improve upon this area of his game.

With his three-level skill set coupled with his astonishing 7-foot-1 frame, it was already believed that Chet Holmgren's upside was incredibly high. Now, adding in this top-flight mentality, it seems like a guarantee that All-Star selections, All-NBA nods, and illustrious end-of-season awards (DPOY anyone?!) are waiting for him right on the horizon.