Chet Holmgren, Victor Wembanyama Still Big Ticket Rivalry for NBA Marketing

The Oklahoma City Thunder have seen their group revealed for the In Season Tournament, NBA Cup, and it shows that the NBA is still using two young stars as the next big rivalry.

Feb 29, 2024; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) shoots over Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) in the first half at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports / Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports

Many basketball observes obsess over narratives, storylines and compare the present day to the past. One of the biggest missing factors for many has been the lack of rivalries across the sport that is otherwise a soap opera. While there are thousands of juicy tidbits that trickle out regarding players and teams near daily, there is no Magic vs Bird and hasn't been for some time.

The NBA is trying to bring that back and it seems clear in their release of the NBA Cup Groups on Friday. For the second straight year, the league has placed the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the same group for the In Season Tournament.

This ensures an early season clash between two rising stars, Thunder center Chet Holmgren and Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama. In games that the league hopes to market, make feel elevated compared to just standard regular season games and draw plenty of eyeballs.

Each time the two faced off in their rookie campaign it made National headlines - oftentimes on National Television - with higher media turnout then normal for those games, each player was peppered with questions about the other.

While both players passed the pop quiz about the rivalry with standard coach speak, their actions on the court told a different story - their attitudes and emotions just show subtle difference in a game against one another and a random night in Charlotte.

The NBA is leaning fully into that fact and using the two big men as their big ticket item to market as the league's next rivalry - to this point the duo as already delivered some fantastic performances, now with each playing on squads that made improvements this summer, this will be one of the early must-watch games of the 2024-25 campaign.

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