Chet Holmgren has had his fair share of injuries and, in turn, has struggled to stay on the floor at times throughout his tenure with the OKC Thunder.
In fact, through three seasons with the team, the big man has suited up for 114 out of a potential total of 246 regular-season games, equating to an availability rate of just 46.3 percent.
Despite his ailments, however, when active and healthy, it's truly difficult to find many bigs better than the 23-year-old, especially on the less glamorous side of the ball.
Unfortunately, it appears that the folks at ESPN have forgotten just how tremendous a player Holmgren is on defense when at full strength, as they had him as low as third in their recent discussion of who they believe will wind up winning Defensive Player of the Year in 2026.
ESPN disrespects Thunder big Chet Holmgren with DPOY placement
In a recent piece published on August 26, the publication put together a group of NBA reporters, editors, and analysts, collectively referred to as the "Summer Forecast panel," to discuss some of the league's most pressing questions: Who is most likely to win league MVP; What young buck will be crowned Rookie of the Year?
When talking about who the most likely players are to win the Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy, five names were listed and received point totals based on where they were predicted to finish in the DPOY race.
In this exercise, a first-place vote received five points, a second-place vote received three, and a third-place vote received one.
To what should be the surprise of many, Holmgren received just the third-most points with 20, slotting him 75 points behind the top-ranked Victor Wembanyama and, more insulting, 11 points behind the second-ranked Evan Mobley.
Now, though Wembanyama is universally believed to be the odds-on favorite to win the illustrious award, and Mobley comes into the year as the reigning recipient, to suggest that the Thunder big man is as significantly behind either one of them as the pollsters are suggesting is completely absurd.
We're talking about a 7-foot-1 frontcourt wunderkind who averages 2.3 blocks per game and boasts a 107 defensive rating for his career.
Last season alone, Chet ranked first in the league in field goal percentage allowed (minimum 200 layup and dunk attempts defended) and third in defensive rating (105.6) among regular starters while opposing teams saw averages of just 107.3 points per 100 possessions and an effective field goal percentage of 51.3 with him on the floor, marks that place within the 95 and 93 percentile, respectively.
With his harrowing length (7-foot-6 wingspan), impeccable IQ, overall athleticism, and constant drive to keep improving, it goes without saying that Holmgren has all the tools necessary to be an elite defender.
The numbers prove that he's already established himself as one.
Should he play the minimum 65 games necessary to qualify for the award (perhaps a tall ask considering his history), he'll undoubtedly make it harder for the voters to decide on a winner than ESPN is currently predicting.
Of course, if Mobley and, especially, Wembanyama (remember, he's still making his way from deep vein thrombosis) fall short of this threshold themselves, there may be an easy case to be made that the Thunder stud could run away with the honor.