Anytime the Oklahoma City Thunder play the San Antonio Spurs for the foreseeable future, there are going to be questions about the matchup between Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren.
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault is trying his best to shut those questions down.
Given the hype around the two lanky superstars-in-the-making, Wednesday’s Thunder-Spurs game was nationally televised on ESPN. As part of the broadcast, ESPN reporter Andraya Carter was able to do an in-game interview with Daigneault after the first quarter. Naturally, she asked about how Holmgren was handling Wembanyama in their second showdown of the season and what was working for him so far.
“It’s Thunder vs. Spurs tonight,” responded Daigneault with a smirk.
Don't love Mark's answer here, it would be one thing if Andraya's question was a general one but it wasn't pic.twitter.com/eb3TLyd895
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) January 25, 2024
Realizing that she wasn’t going to get much else out of him, Carter thanked Daigneault for his time and that was that.
This wasn’t the first time today that Daigneault shut down questions around the Holmgren vs. Wembanyama narrative. During the pre-game presser, he told reporters that the focus for him was on the game, not individual players.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault dismantling the Wemby vs. Holmgren narrative: "It's a team sport, not tennis…"
— Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) January 25, 2024
NBA reporters be warned. Bring up the Holmgren-Wembanyama discussion with Mark Daigneault at your peril. And good luck to the Oklahoma Thunder coach in surviving with that strategy for the next few years. While it sounds like he’s not going to answer those questions, it’s hard to imagine reporters will stop asking.
[CJ Fogler, Tom Orsborn, Larry Brown Sports]
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.