Thunder's Chet Holmgren on Recent Hype: 'I Haven't Proven S--t, I've Played 30 Games'

Oklahoma City Thunder star Chet Holmgren is being hyped up as the Rookie of the Year leader amid an impressive start to the 2023-24 campaign.

However, Holmgren told reporters Tuesday that he still has a long way to go to prove he's one of the best players in the NBA.

"I haven't proven s--t," Holmgren said. "I've played 30 games."

Holmgren, the No. 2 pick in the 2022 NBA draft, missed the entire 2022-23 season with a Lisfranc injury in his foot and has played 31 games to open up the 2023-24 campaign. He's averaging 17.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.7 blocks while shooting 54.3 percent from the floor and 40.0 percent from deep.

In part thanks to the emergence of Holmgren alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey, the Thunder sit second in the Western Conference with a 22-9 record and are just 1.5 games back of the Minnesota Timberwolves for the No. 1 seed.

Oklahoma City is on pace for its best season since 2015-16 when it finished third in the Western Conference and reached the conference finals before being eliminated by the Golden State Warriors.

If Holmgren remains healthy and continues to compete at a high level, the sky is the limit for this year's Thunder squad.