Kendrick Perkins accuses ‘punked’ Thunder Chet Holmgren of playing scared vs. Victor Wembanyama

Should the Oklahoma City Thunder consider moving on from All-Star Chet Holmgren after a four-point dud in Game 7’s 111-103 loss to Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals? ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins believes so. The former Thunder center called out Holmgren for his underwhelming performance against the Spurs.

With the Thunder’s season on the line, Holmgren’s dreadful performance had led to Perkins telling the Thunder front office to consider its options, as Wembanyama and the young Spurs should only get better from this point forward, he said, per ESPN’s SportsCenter.

“We’re talking about a guy that was a first-time All-Star this year and made Third Team All-NBA, and was a complete no-show. Not just in Game 7, but this whole series,” Perkins said. “Wemby straight up not only punked him but he took his heart, he snatched his soul. Chet Holmgren was scared to compete. And now Sam Presti — he has real business decisions to make when it comes to Chet Holmgren. This is not a an overreaction. This is facts. Wembanyama is not going anywhere. He’s going to be here.

“With that being said, you have to find somebody that’s going to be that dude.”

Perkins says the Thunder All-Star Chet Holmgren’s value should be evaluated with the Milwaukee Bucks for a potential trade for All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who’s reportedly expected to be on the move this summer.

“You gotta go find a guy like a Giannis Antetokounmpo that’s gonna come in and move the needle and be able to go toe to toe in some capacity with Wembanyama because Chet Holmgren aint it,” Perkins added.

Perk:

"Wemby straight up not only punked him but he took his heart, he snatched his soul. Chet Holmgren was scared to compete. You gotta go find a guy like a Giannis Antetokounmpo that's gonna come in and move the needle and be able to go toe to toe in some capacity with… pic.twitter.com/GCZcKU51GY

— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) May 31, 2026

It’ll be interesting to see how the Thunder front office will proceed, entering the offseason with plenty of assets, and tradeable contracts after losing Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals.

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