Exclusive: Chet Holmgren ‘on the court all summer’ preparing for 2026-27 season

LOS ANGELES — The Oklahoma City Thunder entered last season with a great chance at repeating as NBA Champions, but unfortunately fell short of their goal at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs. While Shai Gilgeous-Alexander repeated as MVP of the league, the Thunder will look to Chet Holmgren to take a big jump entering his fifth season in the NBA.

Holmgren had a strong third season for the Thunder, averaging a career-high in points (17.1) and rebounds (8.9) to go along with his 1.7 assists and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 55.7 percent from the field and 36.2 percent from three.

The Thunder big man finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting and had an even better postseason than regular season until the Spur series, where Victor Wembanyama and Co. took it to Oklahoma City and advanced to the NBA Finals.

Since that loss, Holmgren has been in the gym all summer preparing for a bounce-back year from an abrupt end to the Thunder’s season.

“I’m excited,” Chet Holmgren told ClutchPoints. “I mean I’ve been on the court all summer. I’m excited to get back to OKC with the guys and get back to work.”

Holmgren recently made an appearance at NBA 2K27 Community Day in Los Angeles, where he spoke with ClutchPoints about NBA 2K and having a chip on his shoulder for the upcoming 2026-27 season.

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Tomer Azarly: We’re here with Oklahoma City Thunder star Chet Holmgren. Thanks for taking the time. First of all, talk to me about some of your favorite NBA 2K memories growing up. Were you a big gamer growing up?

Chet Holmgren: Yeah, big gamer. Played 2K, played a lot of Call of Duty. Favorite memories is always three randoms, quick game with the friends. You know, whenever you go to their house or they come to yours, you know, just three randoms, pick the best team and then go heads up.

Tomer Azarly: So this year we got four 90-plus overalls in the Sixers, similar to the Warriors back in 2017. People say it might be a little unfair if you pick one of those teams to play with. Do you think that’s unfair? Should you pick someone else?

Chet Holmgren: I feel like you can always blame the game for something, but at the end of the day, if you’re good enough at the game, you’re not worried about that.

Tomer Azarly: This year, NBA 2K introduced Eras for MyCareer, where you can go back in time and play against different era. If you had to pick an era that you could go back and play in, which era would it be and why?

Chet Holmgren: On 2K or like in real life?

Tomer Azarly: In real life, like for yourself?

Chet Holmgren: I think I’m not too into the what if’s. You know, I love the era of basketball that we’re in right now. I think it’s continuing to evolve and has been since it started and it’s in a beautiful place.

Tomer Azarly: If you could go back and team up with any player in NBA history all-time, who would it be? Can you even pick just one?

Chet Holmgren: Ooh, that’s a tough one. Yeah, I don’t know. Can I maybe give a starting five? Obviously Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, I’d say like OKC Kevin Durant, and one more. I’d say 2011 Dirk Nowitzki.

Tomer Azarly: It’s a historic one. NBA 2K also introduced a co-op MyCareer for this year’s game. So if you had to pick a teammate of yours on the Thunder, to play 2K with for a career, who would it be?

Chet Holmgren: Probably J-Will. Yeah, Jaylin Williams.

Tomer Azarly: Now I want to talk to you about your rating, which you’ve hinted on a little bit, but just talking about your 2K rating. Have you taken a look at it? Do you like it? Or do you not like it? What do you think?

Chet Holmgren: Yeah, I mean, I saw it at the end of the day. You know, whatever they put it at, it’s up to you whether it goes up and down. So I definitely think that 2K did some some rate hikes, I guess, to stop inflation. So they brought a lot of the average overall down, it definitely came down a lot. So, you know, at the end of the day, you’re always trying to get your rating up.

Tomer Azarly: Last one I got for you is how much are you looking forward to getting back on the court for the Thunder with a bit of a chip on your shoulder this season?

Chet Holmgren: I’m excited. I mean, I’ve been on the court all summer. I’m excited to get back to OKC with the guys and get back to work.

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