Oklahoma City Thunder Star Takes Shot at Miami Heat Fans

The Oklahoma City Thunder have announced their presence as a contender in the NBA. This past season, they earned the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, going 57-25.

That is a position the Oklahoma City Thunder could hold onto for years to come. There is a lot of young talent on the roster and general manager Sam Presti has built a war chest of assets to acquire talent to push them over the top.

One of the core pieces the team will be building around in years to come is Chet Holmgren. The No. 2 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft missed the entirety of his first season in the NBA because of a foot injury.

The 2023-24 season was his rookie campaign and he did not disappoint. He played in and started every game of the season, averaging 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.3 blocks in 29.4 minutes per game.

That production was good enough for Holmgren to finish second in the Rookie of the Year voting. San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama took home the first of what will be many awards in his career.

With some time off in the summer, Holmgren made an appearance on The Road Trippin’ podcast hosted by Richard Jefferson, Channing Frye and Allie Clifton. Several different topics were covered, but one stood out among the rest.

At one point, Holmgren was talking about his favorite places to play in the NBA. Among them was the Kaseya Center, home of the Miami Heat.

While explaining why he enjoyed playing there so much, he took a shot at the Heat and their fans.

“I like Miami, because it’s just like empty… As the away team you just got to build that lead in the first three quarters and then it just stays quiet for the fourth,” Holmgren said.

For as much as the franchise is known for Heat Culture, they are also known for having a fan base that isn’t punctual. Routinely the arena will be empty by the time games tip off, taking away what should be a great home crowd environment.

As Holmgren noted, that is something teams such as the Oklahoma City Thunder can take advantage of. If they jump out to an early lead, there isn’t crowd energy to feed off of to help the home team climb back into a contest.

Players feed off of the energy of their crowd; that is why homecourt advantage in the NBA playoffs is so important. But, that isn’t an edge the Heat always have, as Holmgren shared.

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