Chet Holmgren Drops Hype Video to Announce Return from Injury for Thunder vs. Raptors

Oklahoma City Thunder big man Chet Holmgren is on track to play Friday against the Toronto Raptors.

ESPN's Shams Charania noted the team has removed him from its injury report. Holmgren confirmed his return on social media:

The Thunder announced the young star suffered a right iliac wing fracture during the team's 127-116 home loss to the Golden State Warriors on Nov. 10. The injury occurred after he took a hard fall after a block attempt during the first quarter.

The team said an update would be provided in 8-to-10 weeks and that he was expected to return before the end of the season.

On Jan. 17, the Thunder announced that Holmgren was progressing in the return-to-play protocol and would be "re-evaluated in approximately three to five weeks."

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault spoke more on the matter.

Holmgren averaged 16.4 points (50.5 percent shooting), 8.7 rebounds and 2.6 blocks over his first 10 games.

The year before, Holmgren was the runner-up to San Antonio Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama for Rookie of the Year after posting 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. He also helped guide the Thunder to the Western Conference's No. 1 seed after a 57-win campaign.

The Thunder selected the ex-Gonzaga standout with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft. He missed the 2022-23 season with a Lisfranc injury suffered during the CrawsOver Pro-Am event event in August 2022.

Without Holmgren, the Thunder have turned to Isaiah Hartenstein at the starting 5 with Jaylin Williams as the backup, and they've managed to maintain the NBA's best record (40-9).

His return gives them a massive boost for the second half of the year.