OKC Thunder's Chet Holmgren talks about his foot injury that will end his 2022 season

Last year Chet Holmgren had an outstanding rookie season for Oklahoma City.

After missing the Thunder's entire 2022-23 season due to a foot injury sustained during a summer pro-am game, Holmgren rebounded in the 2023-24 season and helped OKC to a 57-win season.

In a recent episode of “Podcast P,” a show featuring former Oklahoma City striker Paul GeorgeHolmgren spoke about the injury that sidelined him during what was supposed to be the Gonzaga product's first year.

“There were a lot of All-Stars in the game, so I just tried to play,” Holmgren said. “I think I honestly overdid it this summer because I was all over the place. I was in (Los Angeles) and drove about an hour and a half just to get to the game. … I think I just overdid it. I don't think it was an injury that happened because I overdid it. It was a crazy injury that you just can't really control. Sometimes you make a wrong move.

I even told (Jamal Crawford), 'I'm exhausted from practice this week, I don't think I can play,' and then just ignorance. I texted him about 15 minutes later saying, 'Keep me a jersey, I'm coming to basketball.' I believe everything happens for a reason, I wouldn't go back and change it either. I got so much better at a lot of different things in the year I was injured. You know, I was able to learn so many things.”

After returning from injury, Holmgren finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting behind Victor Wembanyama with an average of 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.3 blocks per game.

Although the 7-foot-4 player's resilience was questioned due to his foot injury and slim frame, Holmgren showed impressive toughness in the 2023-24 season, playing all 82 regular season games and every playoff game.

With Holmgren coming out of the offseason once again in full health, he should be ready to perform even better in his second year on the court.

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