“There’s nothing worse for your body than not being able to train,” Holmgren told ESPN. “I discovered that six weeks of bed rest just washed out my muscles.”
Almost everything about the Oklahoma City Thunder’s dream run to the 2025 NBA Championship is remembered with fondness. But there is some disappointment in Holmgren’s retelling. It included even the most proud people And The darkest chapter of his basketball life.
Last November, in the Thunder’s 10th regular season game, Holmgren turned to contest a baseline drive by Golden State Warriors wing Andrew Wiggins. Wiggins caught Holmgren with a layup at the wrong angle, using an extended elbow to send the aggressive but thin shot blocker on a parallel descent toward the court.
Hips met hardwood. Holmgren’s pelvis was broken and he writhed in pain. His two biggest teammates, Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams, followed the training staff to his aid, escorting the franchise center to the locker room and staying with him as the diagnosis hit. He went to the hospital that night. Hartenstein met him.
“In my career, this is the first time I’ve seen someone in so much pain,” Hartenstein said.
Holmgren, who returned to lead the Thunder to the title after missing 39 games, has already checked a pair of boxes that most premium lottery picks spend their entire careers chasing. Three summers after being selected No. 2 in 2022, he has been a major contributor to the NBA champions and in July, he signed a five-year, $240.7 million contract extension.
Holmgren is a proven and paid winner but is still in the early stages of his NBA development. For example, he has appeared in fewer regular season games (131) than Houston Rockets wing draft No. 4 overall pick Amen Thompson (148) in 2023.
Holmgren’s hunger for individual leaps is helping drive the Thunder’s powerful repeat effort this season. Last season, his extended absence partially opened the door for Jalen Williams to become the team’s second All-Star.
But Williams missed the first 19 games of the season with a wrist injury, partially opening the way for Holmgren to stretch his legs. The Thunder have a 20–1 record with a historic point differential (15.5). Holmgren has a career average of 18.2 points.
“There’s really no one on our team who is sitting back and remembering what a great career he had,” Holmgren said. “I think everyone on the team is striving and striving for more. The championship wasn’t the last check on their bucket list.”
hartenstein was out When the Thunder opened in Denver last season. This meant that Holmgren was facing reigning MVP Nikola Jokic at center.
It was a perfect showcase for the work done between their second and third seasons.
“We lost in the second round (against Dallas),” Holmgren said. “Four-and-a-half months of offseason. I took a weekend off. That’s it. I worked hard. I was looking forward to it paying off.”
Holmgren had 25 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks in the impressive win over the Nuggets. They held Jokic to 16 points. After two nights, Holmgren had 21, 16, and 2 blocks in Chicago. The next night, he had 25, 9 and 6 blocks in a win over the Atlanta Hawks. The leap was becoming a reality.
“He would have been a contender for Defensive Player of the Year,” Hartenstein said. “He had a chance to make an All-Star team. So I think that’s probably another mental factor. You have to go through the what ifs.”
Two nights before he dislocated his hip, Holmgren led Houston’s front line with 29 points in 29 minutes. The blowout pushed the Thunder to 8-1.
“Then bounce,” Holmgren insisted. “Backwards. It’s very disappointing.”
Holmgren compared his first month after breaking a hip to solitary confinement. He spent a week in hospital and then three more people were crammed into his large bed, ordered to lie on his left side and move as little as possible to ensure healing.
“You don’t want people to be around you because you’re sad,” Holmgren said. “You can’t do anything. You’re not even alive, you’re just surviving.
“I don’t think fans realize some of these are real injuries.”
Holmgren missed his entire first season due to a Lisfranc injury, but that long rehab was also more bearable because it was more dynamic and social. Most NBA injuries come with the freedom to be around the team and work on other areas of the body. While on bed rest, as Holmgren puts it, you simply watch growth and muscle “waste away.”
“So you have the next two weeks on crutches,” Holmgren grumbles. “Which, basically, is like parole from bed rest.”
in dimming Following those 10 days away from racing following the glow of the championships in late June, Holmgren hit the gym with the intention of re-strengthening specific areas of his body and sport.
To do this, he lined up the tape. Holmgren returned from a hip fracture in February, figured out how to comfortably play the power forward position next to Hartenstein, who was signed in the offseason to bolster OKC’s frontline, and admirably reestablished himself as a winning player on a runaway train in motion.
He started all 23 playoff games, averaging 15.2 points in 29.8 minutes and finishing second among all players with 43 postseason blocks. But he hated the film.
“The worst person to talk about his good performance is him,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “He’s a perfectionist.”
Holmgren made only 29.7% in his playoff 3s. He saw a slow release. They were held under 10 points in three of the seven Finals games. He saw himself running and cutting and not the athlete or playmaker he knew himself to be. Instead, he saw hesitation.
“I look slow out there,” Holmgren said. “It also felt slow. I didn’t have my pop and my movement at all.”
On a night that would partially come to define the legacy of the guys within this burgeoning Thunder era – en route to winning their first title in Game 7 – Holmgren had 18 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks. When the Thunder pulled away from the Indiana Pacers in the third quarter, Holmgren was all over the place. Four of his five blocks and 13 of his 18 points came after halftime.
“The best framework to look at it is through a floor-and-ceiling lens,” Daigneault said. “That game is a great example of the level of player he is. That guy changed the game. I mean he stops five, but he probably stops two or three. Then he stops a couple more because they wouldn’t even go there. So all of a sudden you’re taking 10 quality shots in the biggest game of the season. You’re taking away them because of his presence.”
Holmgren, even with the compromised, 7-foot floor spacer, protects honor even when he’s missing shots. On the other hand, he has become one of the elite rim protectors since stepping into the league.
For his career, he has given up a 46.4% effective field goal percentage as a contested defender, third best behind only Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert among those who have contested 2,000 shots over that span. This season, Holmgren has held opponents to 39.9% shooting as a contested defender, according to GeniusIQ, which is best among the 42 players who have faced at least 250 shots.
“He’s always had it all,” Daigneault said. “But there’s still a ceiling for him because he’s a young player. He’s only played (131) games in his career. So we look at him as a guy who’s still developmental. And it feels weird to say that because usually it’s associated with guys who haven’t accomplished what he’s done.”
winning happens often Awarded in the NBA. Holmgren worked hard in rehabbing his hip to get back as quickly as possible – requiring just under three months – and pushed through the discomfort to help put the Thunder over the finish line. Less than a month later, on July 9, they put that monster contract offer on his desk. he accepted.
“I never played basketball for financial reasons,” Holmgren said. “Obviously it’s a blessing. I can take care of my family for a long time. But I never did it for any money. So my rush to go out on the court and play has nothing to do with the need to get paid or to eventually be paid.”
But changing financial conditions will be the next story for this growing Thunder team. This season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren made a combined $58.5 million. Next season, they will make a combined $123.8 million. After the season, it will be a combined $150.6 million.
As they take up an increasing percentage of the salary cap, Thunder general manager Sam Presti will inevitably be forced to be stingy with the rest of the rotation and roster, even with a treasure trove of draft assets.
This makes Holmgren’s final terrace a big part of the bigger picture. What might he become when he grows old in the midst of his prime? The early signs this season have been positive. His raw scoring production has increased. His 55.5% shooting is the highest of his career. He says he feels better physically and his superstar teammates feel it too.
“He doesn’t fade away physically,” Gilgeous-Alexander told ESPN. “His moves are strong throughout the game. Naturally, he’s going to score 15, 17 points a night. Then as he gets stronger, he’ll develop his low post and midpost game, the same way Dirk Nowitzki did.”
Holmgren is performing better than ever around the rim. He has made 75% of his dunks and layups, up from 63% last season. Daigneault also called one of the Thunder’s interior stats on Holmgren “very encouraging.”
“He’s taking a higher percentage of his open shots than last year,” Daigneault said. “About 10% more in terms of raw percentage. I think by our numbers it’s 62 (percent) to 73 (percent).”
Williams returned to the lineup this week. In his first two games, Holmgren still had 23 and 19 points overall on 17-of-28 shooting. The two work well together, especially as a combo engine for second units when Gilgeous-Alexander sits.
But as Williams reintegrates, he will inevitably be used by everyone else, including Holmgren. This will be the latest balancing act for Holmgren, as he tries to develop as an individual player while keeping within the required confines of a juggler.
“The sky’s the limit,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “He can take this game and his game where he wants.”
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