Final nail put in coffin of alleged Wemby/Chet rivalry by OKC's head coach

If Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault thought that Chet Holmgren was an appropriate rival for Victor Wembanyama, he probably would have given him the assignment of stopping the Alien, don't you think? That's not what happened, though. Days after the Spurs knocked OKC out of the Emirates NBA Cup in the semifinals, people are still talking about that game and this alleged rivalry. Let me tell you: it doesn't exist.

As @DevonBirdsong pointed out in the social media post above, in response to a delusional Thunder fan, Chet spent more of the game guarding everyone but Wemby. Jalen Williams and Alex Caruso were the primary defenders on Saturday night, and if that doesn't paint the picture of these two centers being on different levels, you're just color blind.

The crazy part of it all is people believing that Vic's dismissive tone when discussing the 7'1" role player is proof that he views Holmgren as an equal, but it's the exact opposite.

Wemby is several levels above Holmgren

First of all, we have to remember that Wembanyama is not American. Individuals from foreign nations often speak with a matter-of-fact tone that gets misconstrued as disrespect when they're simply stating their opinions without softening the landing. They see no need. You say what you mean, and that's that. There's no desire to add a fake laugh at the end or fluff up their words.

That doesn't make them intentionally malicious. Before their NBA Cup meeting, Taylor Rooks asked Vic about his matchup with Chet. His answer made some waves, but that's people searching for confirmation bias. Why are you asking a top-five player in the sport about specifically matching up against the third-best player on OKC's roster?

Their first goal is to slow down Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and it's not an insult to point that out. "The MVP is on that court; he's our main focus. Anybody is hard to guard when you have to help on the MVP," Wemby answered. That's the truth. And if he sounded annoyed, it's likely because everyone keeps trying to compare the two when they're in different stratospheres.

Just look at their usage rates. The 7'5" monster in silver and black has the highest rate on his team, while Holmgren has the third-highest on his. It's a clear signal for the pecking order. Chet's usage rate (19.7) in their meeting on Saturday was lower than Devin Vassell's (21.2), who had the fourth-highest number on the Spurs in that category.

Chet became the favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year while Vic was out. If he were really the defender they say he is, and if he were a respectable rival for San Antonio's franchise star, he would have been guarding Wemby most of that game. Clearly, Daigneault doesn't feel that way, and neither should anyone else.