San Antonio Spurs Brewing the NBA's Next Great Rivalry

After one preseason game, Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs are building a future rivalry with the Thunder.

Between the San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, and Oklahoma City Thunder, the future of the NBA Western Conference is in good hands. 

Sure, the Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets, and Los Angeles Clippers are running the show right now, but each team on the rise has at least one young star to build around. 

The Rockets and Spurs have only met in the playoffs once since Tim Duncan was drafted, and the Spurs won thanks to Manu Ginobili’s heroics. The Spurs and Thunder, on the other hand, have had much more overlap in recent memory. Since the Thunder relocated to OKC, the Spurs have faced them three times in the playoffs, only beating them in 2016.

Behind Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren, the Spurs and Thunder will be very good for a long time coming, and the slender big men will be the centerpieces of the matchups to come. The two met for the first time in the NBA during Monday night's preseason game. The Thunder won by a point, and Holmgren outscored Wembanyama by a point, but a budding rivalry has been set in stone.

Wembanyama looked sharp in his preseason debut / © Rob Ferguson-USA TODAY Sports

Holmgren failed to score on Wembanyama at any point during the game, and Wemby took Holmgren to the ground early on in the first corner, knocking his forehead into Holmgren’s mouth and drawing some blood. After scoring the bucket and drawing a foul, Wembanyama flexed on Holmgren, who laid on the ground holding his face.

The headbutt is an unstoppable move fasho😂😂🤝 https://t.co/Oaz7Mz8f57

— chet holmgren (@ChetHolmgren) October 10, 2023

After the game, Holmgren took to Twitter to make a statement about the play. It’s worth noting that the emojis were added a few hours after the initial post, so the friendly attitude taken by Holmgren was not the original tone. Before the game, Wembanyama only had nice things to say about his fellow rookie, but there’s no guarantee things will stay cordial.

With blood already drawn, the Spurs and Thunder have their next date set for Nov. 14th in Oklahoma City. The Holmgren vs. Wembanyama feud will help define the next era of NBA basketball, and the rivalry is already getting chippy.