Oklahoma City Thunder fans for one would remember the 2022 edition of Jamal Crawford’s Pro-Am League. The season got canceled but at the cost of OKC’s promising talent failing to play in his first season. During his recent appearance on Podcast with P, OKC’s Chet Holmgren recalled the incident where he suffered a major injury guarding LeBron James in 2022.

As the 22-year-old revealed some positives out of the whole incident, Jamal Crawfrod could not help but praise his spirit. “My guy turned lemons into lemonade. A hooper and warrior at his core. Utmost respect for Chet!!” Crawford commented on the IG post, including the podcast clip. In his appearance on the podcast, Holmgren had recalled the event and stated he overdid his practice that summer. So the 22-year-old was without a doubt exhausted by the pro am game. But he believes the cause of injury was not that he overdid it.

“Like, it was a freak injury that you just can’t really control. Sometimes you just take one wrong step, but I definitely overdid it,” he said. He even recalled telling Jamal Crawford about his exhaustion from the workouts throughout the week so he won’t be able to play. But then 15 minutes later, Holmgren changed his mind and confirmed his availability to JC through text. What followed next was players like LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, and more pulling up in a city that does not have its own NBA team. So naturally, the crowd of fans for the game was huge.

As the game started, the overcrowded gym, the heat and humidity made the court somewhat wet. However, Holmgren denied this the reason for his injury. “I don’t even know how it happened… This stupid sh** got in the way of a freight train, and sh** happens,” he said later on the podcast. Whatever the reason may have been, the injury sustained during the game led to him suffering a Lisfranc fracture. The subsequent surgery cost Chet his entire rookie season. However, the 22-year-old believes that whatever happens, happens for a reason. And he would not go back in time and change it even if he could.

Strange that a player would not want to avoid his entire rookie season, right? Well, the Thunder star has his own reasons for it. “I think I got so much better at a lot of different things the year I was hurt, too, and I was able to learn so many things. Obviously, I would have rather played, but, you know, I think it all worked out how it was supposed to,” he said.

However, this is not the first instance that the Thunder star has backed his decision to play in Jamal Crawford’s league.

Holmgren defended his move of playing in The CrawsOver Pro-Am League despite facing criticism

After missing his rookie season, a certain section of fans criticized Chet for playing in the pro am league and risking his debut season. However, Chet hadn’t expressed any regrets about playing in JC’s league back then either.

“There’s freedom of speech and criticism comes along with anything. Basketball players are going to play basketball… You have to feed the love of the game. I don’t want an injury like this to take away from that,” he said in an interview. And it’s not as if the season he missed did him no good. Notably, the 22-year-old had a rather skinny appearance when Thunder drafted him into the league.

The one year gap gave him enough time to work upon his fitness and he came back stronger with an improved physique. Not only did he display offensive efficiency with 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds per game. But also averaged 2.3 blocks per game on the defensive end, earning him the second spot in Rookie of the Year contenders in last season. And thus Jamal Crawford’s turning “lemons into lemonade” comment.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger