Chet’s status as a rookie during his first year was constantly debated early in the 2023-24 season. Chet Holmgren was the second overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, but he injured his foot ahead of his first year in the league. That injury took him out for the entire 2022-23 season, which meant he would have to wait to play his rookie year.
When a player does not play a regular season game during his first year due to injury, he is still considered a rookie in his second season. This sparked an age-old debate about players who had to redshirt their first year and if they were eligible for the Rookie of the Year award. Former All-Star Ralph Sampson thinks Chet benefited from being out for a year.
“He's not really a rookie, I agree with that, because he was around the game, in practice, watching films, but also working out as a pro,” Sampson said about Holmgren on SiriusXM Radio. “He was definitely working out as a pro, then Wembanyama working overseas and playing games there. There's a big, big difference. The body's a little bit more mature. You know the system a little bit better… He got an advantage, for sure.”
Holmgren is not the player to experience this
Chet was still a rookie in the 2023-24 season and eligible for Rookie of the Year. That made the race for the award exciting for the campaign’s first half because Holmgren was trading blows with Victor Wembanyama. Of course, Wemby would pull away and win the Rookie of the Year award unanimously, with Chet coming in second place by a distance.
If it was a close race, Holmgren could have won the award, which would not have been the first time a redshirt rookie won ROY. In the past two decades, two redshirt players, Blake Griffin and Ben Simmons, have done it.
Holmgren was in the OKC system for a year
Sampson’s point about Holmgren not being a rookie was about how the former Gonzaga standout had the advantage of observing and learning from his NBA teammates. It could be unfair for other rookies who were fresh off college or overseas teams to go against a player integrated into an NBA system a year before.
The debate peaked during the 2018 Rookie of the Year race between Donovan Mitchell and Ben Simmons. The former tried to advocate for him to be known as the “true rookie,” but the rules state the Aussie was a rookie, and he won the award.
Nevertheless, Chet’s rookie season is over, but he could use the motivation to perform better in the future. Hearing someone as accomplished as Ralph Sampson indirectly criticize Holmgren could be the push he needs to elevate his game in the future.
Related: Chet Holmgren has been tapped as a potential MVP by Mark Jackson
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