The Oklahoma City Thunder have a unique tradition for stand-up postgame interviews, and forward Chet Holmgren revealed how it all started. Holmgren and the Thunder will do whatever it takes to silence their doubters, and the tradition postgame tradition exemplifies the kind of togetherness that he believes has gotten them to expedite their growth to become championship contenders in 2024-25.
Holmgren says one player didn’t start the tradition but recalled the first time he remembered seeing it, per ClutchPoint’s Brett Siegel.
“I don’t think it was one person who started it. I just remember in my first Summer League game, they tried to pull me aside for postgame media. I think I then pulled over Josh [Giddey] and told them, ‘I’ll only do it if he joins me.’ Maybe it was right after that or sometime after that, but eventually, and I don’t really remember when exactly it started, it turned into three people in the interview,” Holmgren said. “Then there were five people after the next game.
“I think after beating the Sixers (on Wednesday), we had the entire team in it. This is really special. We don’t do it to send any sort of message or any of that. It’s more so just us genuinely being there for one another. The same person is not always doing the interview every night, so it kind of just shows that we are all together.”
Years removed from that experience, the Thunder’s postgame interview trend continues after every win.
Chet Holmgren promises to silence Thunder doubters
Despite their young age, Chet Holmgren and the Thunder plan to silence the non-believers in the postseason. For that, Holmgren has to do whatever it takes.
“We have a group of guys that have all the talent in the world. We have a coaching staff that has every answer to every question that you may have. We definitely have all the motivation you need to get something done in this league,” Holmgren said. “A championship is the obvious goal. We are playing to win the last game of the season. But it’s still less thinking about that and more focused on what we need to do today and tomorrow in order to put ourselves in the best position for the next day. Our goals are dreams, and to reach these dreams, we have to take it one day, one game at a time.
“Whatever it takes.”
The Thunder clinched the first seed of the Western Conference standings on Thursday.
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