Mark Daigneault, OKC Thunder players react to Chet Holmgren's presence in NBA Cup win

Mark Daigneault, OKC Thunder players react to Chet Holmgren’s presence in NBA Cup win

Posted by Admin December 11, 2024 NBA

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The only commonality between the Oklahoma City Thunder‘s 118-104 NBA Cup quarterfinal win over the Dallas Mavericks and the rest of their regular-season schedule is they count the same towards the standings.

Besides that though, the contest felt closer to a playoff atmosphere than a typical December outing. The NBA Cup court added some prestigiousness and the OKC crowd rained down boos on Dallas and Doncic.

While the Thunder downplayed the contest, their actions on the court said otherwise. Since last year, the Mavericks have stepped up as OKC’s biggest archnemesis. Knocked out in the playoffs, the Thunder used this contest to see how they matched up against the Mavericks with their new offseason additions.

Fair to say Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso make a world difference. Another player who will also drastically shift the odds upon his return is Chet Holmgren. The 22-year-old suffered a season-altering hip fracture last month. He’s seldom been spotted around the team since.

To add to the specialness of the NBA Cup, Holmgren attended OKC’s win. He sat and stood near their locker room tunnel. During timeouts, he used his crutches to hover around the huddles. When shown on the jumbotron, the active crowd grew louder.

Obviously, Holmgren would rather be on the floor than on the sidelines. But his presence provided a rallying cry for OKC. The seven-footer delivered the pregame speech and it clearly worked as OKC came out with a hot start.

Here’s what Mark Daigneault, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort and Cason Wallace had to say about Holmgren’s presence:

Mark Daigneault

On Holmgren’s presence: “I’m happy for him that he can do that. This is a guy who was in bed right after that injury. Part of me feels for him because he probably wanted to play with the crutches, which wouldn’t have been good for the team or for his injury.

“We’ve had him around more often. He’s in good spirits. I think mentally, he’s cleared some hurdles here where he’s starting to make some progress. I think initially when that happened, you just go to sit. That could be hard for a guy like him. He’s been through the process before. He understands the value of taking it step by step. He’s doing a great job with that. He’ll continue to make progress, and he’ll be back at some point.”

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

On Holmgren’s presence: “It’s great to have Chet’s spirit around. Just a funny guy. So positive. He gives the pregame speeches before we run out and he did it tonight. It’s probably why we won. It’s always good having him around. Obviously, the circumstances aren’t perfect but whenever we get blessed with his presence, it’s a blessing.”

On Holmgren’s pregame speech: “Not too long. Like 30 seconds. (He said), ‘Win the game. Get some more money. Protect homecourt.’ He said it in a different way, a little bit more expletive but that’s what his message was.”

Lu Dort

On Holmgren’s pregame speech: “Go out there and win the game. That’s it, really. Just go out there and win the game and compete. That was it.”

Cason Wallace

On Holmgren’s pregame speech: “I don’t remember nothing from the speech. I remember running out and laughing. He gave me a good laugh at least. When he wants to, he’s not always slacking with his pregame but this time I couldn’t tell you what he said.

On Holmgren’s presence: “I feel like it’s good for all of us to see his face around. See he’s in good spirits.”