Rockets star Kevin Durant has grown close to Thunder big man Chet Holmgren over the years because they share a similar mindset, writes Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman (subscriber link).
“He wants to be great,” Durant told The Oklahoman. “It’s that simple. A lot of people don’t want to be great. They don’t want to leave their mark and have their name etched in stone with some of the greats in this league. He wants that. Every time he approaches his work, it’s that mentality. … His mindset is really what stood out to me.”
Holmgren, who will make his first All-Star appearance on Sunday, has always been ambitious but has learned to put individual statistics to the side in support of the team.
“I’ve played long enough and I have an understanding that when you try to force your way to things that aren’t a win, one, it usually hurts your team,” Holmgren said. “And two, a lot of times you don’t end up winning. … I still think I have to be aggressive, but it has to be within making the right play.”
We have have more from around the Northwest:
- At his media session on Saturday, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander discussed the impact Chris Paul had on his career (Twitter links courtesy of Martinez). The legendary point guard, who played one year with Gilgeous-Alexander in Oklahoma City, announced his retirement on Friday after he was waived by Toronto. “Chris was special for my career,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Off the court, he was the first person that I was around to really take care of their body and show me the importance of the weight room. … He was the first point guard that I studied. … He was the standard for a point guard. And obviously, fast forward a couple of years, he’s one of my closest friends. … Honestly, it’s sad the way it’s happened. I thought he would get his flowers a little bit differently, but that’ll never change what he’s done for this game. I’m proud of him. He’s been special. Hopefully I can get to that level of mastering the game of basketball.”
- Nuggets legends Alex English and Dan Issel think Jamal Murray‘s first All-Star appearance was long overdue, per Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. “He should have been an All-Star before now, but I think part of the explanation is that he’s playing with the greatest player on the planet,” Issel said. “And I think that usurps, sometimes, what a great player he is. But when he needs to, he also steps up. … I don’t know that they’d be a championship-caliber team — it would depend who else was with Jamal — but I think he would be very successful if he was on a team where he was the No. 1 scoring option.”
- For his part, Nuggets star Nikola Jokic hopes to play with Murray for the rest of his career, Durando adds. “I would love it,” Jokic said, “just because it’s so good when you know who you’re playing with. He cannot really surprise me. I know what he can do. So the experience of playing probably 10 years definitely helps. But I don’t want to change him, if they ask me.”
- Damian Lillard‘s victory at the three-point contest — his third title in four years — doesn’t mean he’ll attempt to come back from his torn Achilles this season, according to Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Substack link). “I think if this was five years ago, I probably would have won this competition and been like, ‘I think I can get out there and go,’” the Trail Blazers guard said. “But I think I’m also at an age and time of my life where I recognize those emotions are not in my best interest. That’s kind of where it’s at.”
Hell yes Jamal Murray long overdue.
Inefficient guards don’t get a lot of all star nods.
Inefficient?
Murray can be, yes. His issue is extreme inconsistency, at least by the standards of all star level players. Dude can just shoot his team out of games at times and plays little defense.
His splits looks fine to me. As does his plus minus. Also plays for team regularly winning. 42% from deep on that volume is fine. Each to their own, I think he’s deserved another all star appearance.
That’s great to hear about Chet. But at some point he needs to take over too. He is still young. He is OKC best big. He avg less than 12 shots a gm.
I feel like him and JDub are kind of similar in that regard. Loved how Dub played in that last Phoenix game, showing some aggressiveness I haven’t really seen from him since that 40-point game in the Finals. Chet’s scoring comes and goes but like you said, it’d be great to see him take over more often.
JDub hasn’t only played 26 games this season and has been playing his way back into shape and nursing various injuries when he has played. It’s hard to expect big performances when he’s just hasn’t been on the floor.
Chet does take over games, just not always offensively. He’s the backbone of their high pressure defense. Dort, Wallace, and Williams can gamble for turnovers because they know Holmgren will shut down driving lanes behind them. His 17.5 points per game are a bonus.
And then there’s Shai. Holmgren and Williams don’t need to take over often because SGA is one of the best, if not the best closers in the game.
Agreed on all points. I was referring to last season as well with JDub but I was mostly singling out how impressive his last game was which would’ve been hard to do sharing the floor with SGA.
Good attitude, Chet has. The excitement of making your mark at that age, yet he recognizes the privilege, the ease having SGA and JDub as teammates.
Winning helps as well.
He’s still young. So that has to be his next step. He and JWill can’t expect SGA to always go for 30. Tgey have to do it at times. SGA will be better because of it.
Hopefully, they will soon leak what he really thinks about Chet