As a result of their sensational debut campaigns in 2023-24, as well as the fact that they both similarly impact all areas of play, Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama are widely regarded as one of the league's newest individual rivalries.
However, throughout their two years of NBA action, the OKC Thunder big has proven himself to be far more than just a mere challenger to the France-born wunderkind.
In fact, following Monday night's bout against the Timberwolves, there are some arguments to be made that he's Wemby's superior.
Chet Holmgren has OKC Thunder on verge of NBA Finals berth
After getting absolutely walloped on Saturday, losing by a final score of 143-101, Oklahoma City was desperate for a bounce-back effort during Memorial Day's primetime showdown.
A bounce-back is exactly what they wound up pulling off, as the Thunder downed Minnesota in a truly exhilarating fashion, narrowly escaping Game 4 out at Target Center with a final score of 128-126.
Though many may look to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's career-best playoff scoring performance (40 points) or Anthony Edwards' lackluster outing that saw him shoot just 5-for-13 from the field and 1-for-7 from deep as the primary catalysts on the night, truth be told, without the dominant play of Chet Holmgren, OKC may not have been able to pull out such a pivotal win.
On both ends of the ball, the 23-year-old made his presence more than felt.
From his lockdown defense that saw him swat three shots (one of which was absolutely crucial in halting the Wolves' fourth quarter run in the final minute) and hold primary assignment Julius Randle to a lowly 5 points on 14.3 percent shooting to his tremendous work on the offensive glass, where he pulled down a team-high four boards on this end, Chet's efforts were invaluable to the Thunder.
On top of all this, he found himself stuffing the stat sheet with 21 points and 7 rebounds while shooting a highly efficient 64.3 percent from the floor and 50.0 percent from deep, and played one of the biggest roles in holding off Minnesota's late surge, dropping in nine points on 4-for-5 shooting.
Outside of the fact that Holmgren's production largely aided in Oklahoma City's much-needed Game 4 win and, in turn, has them one game away from reaching the NBA Finals, what his play of late has emphasized is the unbelievable upside that he possesses as a player.
Measuring in at 7-foot-1 and in possession of both a smooth shooting stroke and high-end defensive chops, the big man is the definition of a unicorn talent. If he were to pack on some extra muscle and stay reletively healthy moving forward in this year's postseason and during the seasons to come, the sky is truly the limit.
So while some may already be looking to anoint the likes of Victor Wembanyama as the player of his generation, it seems that with every passing day, Chet Holmgren keeps reminding the masses that he's more than deserving of being in the same conversation.
Frankly, with how he's proven capable of providing such positive contributions to a legitimate championship contender under the bright lights of the NBA Playoffs (a tournament Wembanyama has still yet to participate in), there's a case to be made that, at this point in time, it may be a toss-up when it comes to which of the two is the more desierable young stud.