Getty Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers tries to block Thomas Bryant #13.
Generally, the summer is considered downtime for basketball fans. The Finals conclude, then a brief-yet-exhilarating draft (especially for Process-Era Philadelphia 76ers fans), followed by the opening bell of free agency. But both are flashes in the pan compared to the all-out frenzy of the season.
This summer has been a little different.
Players across the league have shown out in various summer pro-am competitions. Some, like the well-established Drew League, even saw a Sixer win and be crowned Finals MVP. Others, like Jamal Crawford’s The CrawsOver, attracted a star-studded lineup that included Jayson Tatum and LeBron James.
Still, others get in some runs in pick-up games. Often closed doors, these matches are ways for players to connect with one another in the offseason. It’s also where more than one trade rumor sprouts up.
But it can also be a forum for hungry young rookies to flash their game against established stars.
Windhorst: Chet ‘Blocked Embiid Several Times’
ESPN Insider Brian Windhorst reported that, over the summer, Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren and Sixers star Joel Embiid met up in a pick-up match in Los Angeles.
And while you might guess that the Thunder rookie was overmatched by the physically dominant Sixer, Windhorst reported the opposite was true.
“One of our colleagues,” Windhorst explained during an episode of his Hoop Collective podcast, “I am not sure they have said this publicly, maybe they have and I don’t remember. But, one of our colleagues recently was watching Chet in a pick-up game in LA, where Embiid was in the pick-up game. And um, just blocked Embiid several times, including on a three-pointer.”
“One of our colleagues were watching Chet in a pickup game in LA..with Joel Embiid & he blocked Embiid several times including a 3-pointer”
I can not wait to watch this dude next year
Embiid knows a thing or two about blocks. The MVP runner-up finished ninth in the league in blocks per game last season. It looks like the Thunder youngster is well on his way to doing the same.
Or . . . not so fast.
The strong showing by Holmgren is bittersweet news for Thunder fans. On August 25, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Holmgren will miss his entire rookie season after suffering a Lisfranc injury. But it’s not just that Holmgren was dominant against Embiid. It’s what the other pick-up players had to say after Holmgren’s duel with the perennial MVP candidate.
Nobody who watched that run left without saying, ‘Wow, this Holmgren is a real difference maker on the court. You got to know where he’s on the court at all times,’” Windhorst said.
Holmgren Is in Good Company
While it’s no true balm for disheartened Thunder fans, there is precedence in a player missing their entire rookie season. Further, there’s precedence that says it might not be such a bad thing.
Sure, Greg Oden never truly recovered from an injury that sidelined him for his first season. But Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Blake Griffin all missed their rookie years and still have gone on to have star-studded careers, as Wojnarowski pointed out.
Joel Embiid was similarly expected to be physically dominant coming out of college.
And that injury to his foot was also predicted to stymie some of that dominance. But several years later and two MVP-caliber seasons later, Embiid has blossomed into one of the league’s best players.
That said, it’s never fun to see a highly touted rookie miss time.
It’s a feeling Sixers fans know all too well.