Stephen A. Smith Calls Out Thunder Star: "Where the Hell is Chet Holmgren?"
Game 1 of the Western Conference finals didn't go as the Oklahoma City Thunder had hoped, as they fell to the Spurs 122-115 in double overtime. The Thunder put up a valiant effort, led by a career performance by Alex Caruso, who dropped 31 points, including eight three-pointers. What ultimately did the Thunder in was their inability to stop Victor Wembanyama, who continued his dominant playoff run with 41 points and 24 rebounds. On ESPN's "First Take" Tuesday morning, Stephen A. Smith placed the blame for this performance on OKC's Chet Holmgren.
"Where the hell is Chet Holmgren? Where is he? I mean you're 7'1"."@stephenasmith doesn't like that smaller players are guarding Wemby and not Chet Holmgren pic.twitter.com/6zK7qw7ygL
— First Take (@FirstTake) May 19, 2026
Smith did not hold back on Holmgren, slamming him for defending Wembanyama in Game One. Smith appeared baffled that Holmgren would let others guard the 7-foot-5 Wembanyama, as he was the tallest player in the game for the Thunder, standing at 7-foot-1. Smith also brought up the rumored "bad blood" between the two stars, implying that Holmgren needs to do more.
"Wemby doing what he's doing, and to compare that and juxtapose that to Chet Holmgren doing nothing offensively," said Smith. "Nothing offensively! It's like, damn, you've gotta accept that challenge."
Smith also further criticized Holmgren's defensive presence while talking about Wembanyama's performance in overtime.
"Anything in the paint area, you can't have an Alex Caruso or a Jaylen Williams or somebody guarding him," said Smith. "That's supposed to be Chet Holmgren, going like 'coach I got this.'"
The lack of Wembanyama-Holmgren action has been a major talking point for fans. The rivalry between the two "unicorns" is supposed to be one of the NBA's biggest rivalries, but it has not met expectations yet. Despite both being crucial pieces on the Western Conference contenders, Wembanyama has absolutely dominated Holmgren throughout their rivalry. After Game One, a fan on X pointed out disparities between the two players, showing why he thinks Wembanyama's been more dominant.
"Wemby willing to die bout this s**t, Chet wanna go home and play Xbox," said the fan
While Wembanyama took the spotlight in Game One, Holmgren and the Thunder will have the chance to bounce back and silence the doubters, with Game Two tipping off on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. EST. Smith believes that this game is do-or-die for the Thunder, saying that if the Spurs win Game Two, they will win the series.
"What answer is there possibly for this brother? ... Game 2 is a must-win situation. If not, the San Antonio Spurs are going to the finals."@stephenasmith reacts to the Spurs' double overtime win vs. the Thunder pic.twitter.com/72c0pVLBda
— First Take (@FirstTake) May 19, 2026
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the Sports section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 8:10 AM.