The 2026 Western Conference Finals between the OKC Thunder and San Antonio Spurs had three running themes: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s flopping, Victor Wembanyama’s coming-of-age status, and Chet Holmgren’s lapses. His struggles in the elimination game overshadowed his season-long dominance, and just when the questions started to rise, SGA made the team’s stance on the 2022 No. 2 draft pick clear.

“We need Chet. We just, we need Chet Holmgren,” he said. “Before Chet was here, we weren’t who we are today. We didn’t have the success we’ve had today. When he’s the best version of himself, we’re the best version of ourselves, and it’s no secret.”

When Holmgren arrived in Oklahoma City for his rookie season in 2023-24, the Thunder vaulted from 10th in the previous season to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, the youngest squad in NBA history to do so. This season, he averaged career-highs of 17.1 points and 8.9 rebounds, shooting 55.7% from the floor and 36.2% from three, the kind of production that earned him an All-Star, All-NBA offense, and All-NBA defense in the same year at 24 years old, a detail SGA referenced by name. Mark Daigneault agreed:

“Every minute Chet has been on the team, we’ve been the one seed in the Western Conference, and it wasn’t the case before Chet was healthy.”

The Canadian admitted that he didn’t perform to his “greatest” in this series either. And with the off-season approaching, he acknowledged that “Chet won’t come to me with a development plan for this summer. I know how much Chet loves this game and wants to be the best version of himself out there every night. And sometimes it just doesn’t go that way.

“The version of Chet that we have today is the worst version of Chet we’ll ever have. I’ve said that literally every time I talk about Chet.”

Holmgren, for his part, kept it simple: “It comes down to looking at the tape. Figuring out where I can improve individually, trust in my work through the offseason.”

Rookies usually struggle in the playoffs due to a sharp change in intensity. Even Victor Wembanyama, the generational big, struggled during his first postseason, failing to sink a three-pointer after going 0-for-5 in a tough shooting slump.

Daigneault Backs Holmgren, and the Series Numbers Tell a Different Story Than Game 7

Chet Holmgren disappeared when it mattered most. Although coach Daigneault pushed back without excusing the performance.

“In the previous series, he was certainly up to standard, and those are the biggest games too, because they get you to the Western Conference Finals. You don’t just get a ticket there.”

Through the Lakers series, Holmgren averaged 20 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, and 1.5 steals while shooting 52.9% from the floor, a dominant two-way showing that made the WCF regression land harder by comparison rather than reflecting a season-long trend.

He posted 16 points and 11 rebounds in Game 5, his first double-double of the series, and shot 50.8% across the first five games before the final two collapsed. The Wembanyama matchup was also a genuine problem. He went scoreless in the second half of Game 7 and attempted no field goals after halftime, but one game does not rewrite what he is.

SGA called it a failure for himself. Holmgren called it tape to study. Daigneault called it the cost of earning a conference finals berth. None of them called it the end of something, and in a league where stars routinely push front offices toward roster overhauls, the franchise player using his postgame podium to publicly defend his teammate is as clear a signal as Presti is going to get.