By Ric Bucher
FOX Sports NBA Writer
SALT LAKE CITY — Those who are skeptical Chet Holmgren is destined for NBA stardom point to his physique, 195 pounds stretched over a 7-foot frame and a 7-6 wing span.
Those who are optimistic about his chances understand, because they initially had the same reaction.
It’s what you can’t see by just looking at his narrow hips and shoulders and pipe-cleaner limbs that won them over.
“First time you see him, all you see is how skinny he is,” one Eastern Conference scout said. “Then you see how he can shoot it and pass it and put the ball on the floor, and you’re like, ‘OK.’ It’s his competitiveness, his toughness — just looking at him, you may not see that right away. But he has it. That’s why I think he has a chance.”
Does Chet Holmgren’s Summer League debut prove doubters wrong?
Chet Holmgren shined in his NBA Summer League debut, finishing with 23 points, seven rebounds and six blocks. While many scouts cited his size as a big concern coming into the league, Colin Cowherd is not concerned.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are counting on it. They made Holmgren the second overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, just behind No. 1 pick Paolo Banchero, who went first to the Orlando Magic, and just ahead of Auburn forward Jabari Smith, taken by the Houston Rockets.
Holmgren provided evidence for both critics and advocates in his first taste of professional competition in the Salt Lake City Summer League.
Confronted by one of the biggest bodies the NBA has to offer, 7-6, 311-pound Tacko Fall, Holmgren produced the stat line of Thunder GM Sam Presti’s dreams: 23 points on 7-for-9 shooting, which included four three-pointers, a perfect 5-for-5 on free throws and a half-dozen blocked shots.
Fall’s only basket in four attempts came after Holmgren denied him at the rim and Fall recovered the ball for a put-back dunk. And although he was the only player in the game to break 20, it never looked as if Holmgren was hunting for shots. He was just as content to drive into the paint and kick the ball back out for one of his four assists or set and re-set screens for teammates, more than once appearing to take more of a hit than deliver one.
When he wasn’t in the game, no one celebrated a Thunder 3, dunk or defensive stop more enthusiastically and before he ducked into the locker room afterward, he high-fived every member of the coaching staff.
The game announcer twice identified him as third-year center Aleksej…
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