{"id":153667,"date":"2025-09-18T23:37:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T23:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/153667\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T23:37:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T23:37:08","slug":"is-chet-holmgren-versus-victor-wembenyama-considered-one-of-nbas-best-rivalries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/153667\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Chet Holmgren Versus Victor Wembenyama Considered One of NBA’s Best Rivalries?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oklahoma City is in a unique position heading into a season that promises to be exciting. For the first time in forever, the Thunder are the top dog, with no real rivals at the top.<\/p>\n

It looked like the Celtics could be a complete force to be reckoned with after the 2023-24 campaign, but management had to split up the team with heavy tax implications and salary cap limitations. Of course the Western Conference is full of elite teams and the competition is stout, but the path to a second straight championship is relatively clear for the Thunder.<\/p>\n

Outside of the competition aspect, it feels like the Thunder lacks a true rival, surprisingly enough. In the earlier iteration of the Thunder\u2019s dynasty, the Golden State Warriors were a classic, obvious rival. Even the Grizzlies, the Spurs, and the Mavericks could\u2019ve been considered a rival \u2014 the playoff battles were testy for certain.<\/p>\n

There are plenty of potential rivals brewing in the West \u2014 Houston, Denver, and Minnesota to name a few. But on NBA Today, they discussed the best current rivalries in the NBA \u2014 and Oklahoma City wasn\u2019t featured as a team. They did have an individual make the list, though.<\/p>\n

The NBA Today crew pick their best NBA rivalry right now \ud83d\udd25 pic.twitter.com\/s34DJEUd4y<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) September 18, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Chiney Ogwumike listed one of her favorite rivalries in the NBA consisted of Thunder\u2019s young star and San Antonio\u2019s generational talent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about the rivalry of the future,\u201d Ogwumike said. \u201cAnytime you have these Spider-man memes going at you, it\u2019s good. I\u2019m talking about Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren, that is the rivalry of the future. And I love it because they mimic each other in frame, they still got major game.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut more importantly, these are guys that respectfully have animosity towards each other when they touch the floor. And it\u2019s not just domestically here in the NBA either, it\u2019s also internationally \u2014 we can see this play out for Team USA and Team France for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Holmgren and Wembanyama have never publicly expressed or shown distaste for one another, it\u2019s pretty clear that they aren\u2019t best friends. It seems to be all in competition though \u2014 they are both extremely competitive players.<\/p>\n

Still, the rivalry feels a bit forced. The Thunder evolved much quicker than the Spurs, and Holmgren and Wembenyama don\u2019t play the same role for their respective teams at all. The international aspect poses an interesting scenario, but in the NBA, Oklahoma City never lets individual matchups get in the way. It\u2019ll always be Thunder versus Spurs \u2014 not Holmgren versus Wembenyama.<\/p>\n