Oklahoma City Thunder fans were finally able to see Chet Holmgren take the court last season after the 22-year-old was forced to miss what would have been his rookie campaign due to injury.
The injury happened during Jamal Crawford’s Pro-Am League, which the former Gonzaga star attended.
During a recent appearance on ‘Podcast with P’, Holmgren recalled the incident that saw him pick up a serious injury while guarding LeBron James.
The incident was praised by Crawford himself, who wrote on an IG post featuring the podcast clip: “My guy turned lemons into lemonade. A hooper and warrior at his core. Utmost respect for Chet!!”
Holmgren noted that he had overextended himself in practice that summer, and that while he was exhausted by the time the Pro-Am game was played, he doesn’t believe that played into his injury.
“Like, it was a freak injury that you just can’t really control. Sometimes you just take one wrong step, but I definitely overdid it,” said Holmgren.
Chet noted that he even told Crawford he was exhausted and wouldn’t play, but then changed his mind 15 minutes later.
Holmgren wouldn’t change anything
“I don’t even know how it happened… This stupid sh** got in the way of a freight train, and sh** happens,” he added.
In the end Holmgren suffered a Lisfranc fracture, which cost him his entire rookie season, though he doesn’t regret how things played out.
“I think I got so much better at a lot of different things the year I was hurt, too, and I was able to learn so many things. Obviously, I would have rather played, but, you know, I think it all worked out how it was supposed to,” he said.