Chet gets candid on OKC topping the West last year

The Oklahoma City Thunder shocked the entire basketball world upon their 2023-24 season of revelation.

After three seasons of being one of the league's cellar dwellars, the Thunder seemingly woke up like a sleeping giant and proceeded to get themselves included in the mix of contending teams gunning for a title. Out of nowhere, as the youngest team in the NBA, they secured 57 wins, reigned the West in the regular season, and capped off their magical run with a second-round postseason finish.

OKC was so good that it even left Chet Holmgren beyond bewildered about how he and his team delivered a meteoric rise.

Chet surprised by OKC’s season

In his recent appearance on Paul George's Podcast P, Chet argued that he never envisioned that Oklahoma City will be at the top of the deep and stacked Western Conference

“This is not a PR answer but hell no, nobody saw that coming,” he said . “Like, we were the youngest team in history at one point or something. I don't know but hell no, we came into the training camp and I just know how hard we were getting after it. We were just all over the place like we're getting texts, training camp scrimmages, like just wilding. Coach had to pull us in and be like, ‘Chet hasn't played a single game in his career.’”

The notion around OKC prior to the 2023-24 campaign is actually promising, but no one saw that they'll be this good and instantly become a title contender. But for Chet, things began to come together as they stood for each other and found common interest in their desired season.

“As bad as that might be, it kind of just showed that yes, we haven't played a game, but we really want this one. It kind of showed like how much we kind of ride for each other too, especially when we're playing. On top of that, once you see the talent was like and we kind of figured it our early in the season too, we just kind of rode that through,” he concluded.

Chet served a part in the Thunder's success

His team's accomplishment might surprise him, but Chet deserves credit for being one of the driving forces of OKC’s past season success.

Beyond Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP-caliber year and the blossoming progress of Jalen Williams, it was Chet who boldly anchored the Thunder to the next level. As a rookie, he bannered the team's top-four defense in the Association and averaged 16.5 points, 7.9 boards, 2.4 assists, and 2.3 blocks while playing all 82 games.

As the forthcoming season provides bigger potential and aspirations, we can only hope for the best for both Chet and Oklahoma City to take it to greater heights and win it all.

Related: Paul George gives Chet Holmgren unique 3-point shooting advice