Sunday night, the OKC Thunder received some devastating news concerning one of their key franchise cornerstones, Chet Holmgren.
Following a booming fall to the hardwood early on in Oklahoma City's matchup against the Golden State Warriors, the sophomore big was ruled to have suffered a right iliac wing fracture in his hip and, in turn, is slated to miss the next eight to ten weeks as he rehabs from the grueling ailment.
Sadly, this is not the first time in Holmgren's professional career that he's sustained an injury that's forced him to the sidelines for an extended period of time, as he missed the entirety of his first year back in 2022-23 due to a Lisfranc injury in his foot.
While some may view this as gravely unfortunate for the budding star, in a recent post on his X account the 22-year-old admitted "from da hospital bed" that he's trying to solely look at the positives as he heads into his rehabilitation stage.
Chet Holmgren sends message to OKC Thunder faithful after injury news
Can’t tell if I feel better or worse about this having been through something similar before. On one hand I know how to approach it, I know what to do, what not to do and how beautiful the other side is. But on the other hand I’ve felt the frustration of this process, and the…
— chet holmgren (@ChetHolmgren) November 11, 2024
Perhaps the most touching part about his health update was the bit where he said "I’m hurt I can’t help my teammates and play for our fans," as it only reinforces the strong and special bond this Thunder team has with one another.
Following up a tremendous 2023-24 campaign where he dropped 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks on 53.0 percent from the floor and 37.0 percent from distance and finished second in the running for Rookie of the Year, Holmgren found himself off to an equally as impressive, and in some ways better follow-up run in 2024-25.
Through the nine games heading into Sunday's grueling exhibition, the tantalizing youngster found himself averaging an impressive all-around stat line of 18.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 2.9 blocks while shooting 51.9 percent from the floor and 40.0 percent from deep.
Now, with Holmgren's unfortunate turn of events, the Thunder find themselves down yet another center talent, as they were already without the likes of Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams who have been donning street clothes since the preseason and continue to nurse their hand and hamstring injuries, respectively.
As seen in OKC's matchup against the LA Clippers during the second night of their back-to-back, the team has no choice but to play small and make up for the size discrepancy they're bound to consistently face upfront with swarming help defensive sets.
Though they may be 1-0 so far into this rotational experiment, it goes without saying that the Thunder will continuously be counting down the days until they can get their franchise center back into the lineup.
Based on his social media post, so will Chet!