Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drops a 4-word version of Chet Holmgren's performance against Nuggets

Before Thursday's opening game between the OKC Thunder and the Denver Nuggets, there was a lot of excitement surrounding the duel between superstars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic. After all, the two were the last remaining finalists for the 2023-24 NBA MVP Award, with the latter ultimately triumphing in somewhat controversial fashion.

However, after the exciting 48-minute performance, the player who should receive most of the attention should be rising star Chet Holmgren, who started his second season with an absolute banger.

After finishing second in the race for Rookie of the Year honors, the 22-year-old was seen by many as a likely breakout candidate for the 2024-25 season, with some even predicting he will explode into stardom.

Thursday's first game seemed to be an indication that he's probably on his way to making that prophecy come true, as Holmgren was an absolute force to be reckoned with on both ends of the floor.

In nearly 36 minutes played that night, Chet Holmgren posted a mesmerizing stat line of 25 points, 14 boards (which is his career high), 5 assists, 2 steals and a whopping 4 blocks while shooting 61.1 percent from beyond the arc shot ground.

While such a performance from the youngster turned some heads and opened some eyes wide, his superstar running mate in the SGA didn't seem too shocked by the second-year pro's performance as he merely classified it during a post-game interview the pitch as an occasion “where he came to play.”

“Of course it’s the first game of the season. Everyone comes to play, but he has increased his intensity. Obviously he played a big part in us winning tonight. Nothing surprised us. This is Chet. This is who he's been since he stepped on the floor for us and was Chet Holmgren tonight,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.

Although Holmgren is already known as a tremendous two-way talent, he proved in Oklahoma City's matchup against his direct conference rival in Denver that he is capable of taking on the demanding tasks and competing with major talents such as All-World Center, Nikola Jokic.

Impressively, the Thunder big managed to hold Jokic to just 16 points on the night and get him to score, even after going on record about how hard it was to slow down the Nuggets' star, though He was at a disadvantage in both the weight and strength departments as his primary defender, shooting just 33.3 percent from distance.

Aside from the fact that he missed all five of his long-range attempts, one could realistically say that Holmgren had a sensational performance for the Thunder. But as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander suggested, the big man's big performance in the club's 102-87 win over Denver was just another day for the rising star.