OKC Thunder star Chet Holmgren had quite a horrid series against the Spurs in this year's Western Conference Finals, and he's certainly received his fair share of criticism for it. The slander was sent his way almost immediately after the final buzzer sounded in their gut-punch Game 7 loss.
Following Victor Wembanyama's own incredibly underwhelming overall performance in San Antonio's ill-fated championship-round clash against the Knicks, however, public reactions appear far from as visceral.
The surprising part is that, when looking at the advanced metrics, there's a case to be made that Wemby's showing was at least just as brutal as Chet's, yet no one's jumping down his throat the way they did with the Thunder big.
Spurs star dissapeared in way many say Chet Holmgren did with Thunder
Yes, the Spurs wunderkind averaged roughly 15 more points and over two more blocks in comparison, but these kinds of "sexy" counting stats only tell half the story.
In the Finals, Wembanyama shot at a putrid 42.3 percent clip, whereas Holmgren shot 51.0 percent from the floor. He coughed up the ball over 2.6 times per night to the Thunder bigs' 1.4, and his defensive win shares also registered in roughly 10 points lower.
Perhaps the most daunting finding, however, is the fact that Wemby shot just 36.7 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from deep through all fourth quarters played against New York in the Finals, and made just one shot in the final two minutes throughout the entire series.
Pundits and keyboard warriors alike have all been busy buzzing about how Holmgren completely disappeared for the Thunder during their seven-game slugfest against the Spurs.
The response to his playoff performance has been so extreme, in fact, that there have been a bevy of calls for his dismissal from the club via trade this summer.
However, now that Wembanyama's the one who Houdini'd on the biggest stage and when his team needed him most, all appears to be rather quiet.
Unfortunately, this just seems like something that will be the norm moving forward.
The third option Holmgren will always be a target for harsh criticism in regard to his play, while the league's newest golden child will have his own personal shortcomings excused.
The reality is that while Chet certainly fell short of delivering what the Thunder needed from him in the conference finals and, in turn, deserves some criticism as a result, the same should be said of Wembanyama.
It's clear that, following this year's postseason, both still have some serious room to grow, yet, to this point, Holmgren is the only one being put on blast.
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