Thunder Journal: Chet vs. Wemby

Throughout pop culture history, so many things just don’t quite live up to the hype.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.

The Game of Thrones finale.

Ryan Leaf.

New Coke.

But every once in a while, there’s an exception to the rule.

Enter Chet Holmgren vs. Victor Wembanyama.

An early October preseason game in Oklahoma City was so hyped that Brian Windhorst flew down from ESPN headquarters to eat barbecue chicken and jalapeno cheddar cornbread in the Thunder media dining room with me and the rest of the OKC blog boys.

And the Spurs' #1 overall pick in 2023 and the Thunder's #2 overall pick in 2022 put on a show for Windy and an impressively regular-season-decibels-level loud City crowd. The two rookie unicorns exchanged dunk for dunk, block for block and 3 pointer for 3 pointer.

While “Chet and Wemby” were trending on social media and every analyst and fan weighed in on the matchup, the main takeaway was universal: both of these dudes are going to be really good.

The final lines were remarkably similar, but the edge had to go to the hometown Holmgren.

Wemby: 20 points. 8-13 FG. 2-5 3PT. 5 rebounds. 0 assists. 2 steals. 1 block. 4 turnovers. 19 minutes. 1 headbutt.

Chet: 21 points. 7-10 FG. 2-2 3PT. 9 rebounds. 1 assist. 0 steals. 1 block. 0 turnovers. 16 minutes. 1 win. 1 tangy Tweet.

Ah yes, about that.