Not even 10 days after earning his first NBA championship with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Chet Holmgren was back at Minnehaha Academy playing one-on-one.
Sizing up his defender on the perimeter, he dribbled between his legs and behind his back — twice each. These are the same handles he honed here, where his Grassroots Sizzle AAU coaches forced the gangly teenager to train with guards. But flashy footwork wasn’t enough for Holmgren on Tuesday. His defender, though only 10 years old and barely waist-high, stayed tight on him.
Not for long. Holmgren bounced the ball high over the child’s head, caught it in stride with one hand, and threw down a thunderous dunk. His defender, camper Beckham Evans, could only smile.
“I got posterized,” Evans told his fellow campers proudly.
Chet Holmgren compares shoe size with camper Nasier Anderson, 11, of St. Paul during the Chet Holmgren Basketball ProCamp at Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis on Tuesday. (Leila Navidi/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
This week, Holmgren returned home to host his first ProCamps youth basketball clinic in Minnesota. One hundred twenty-five young athletes ranging from first to eighth grade, packed into the Minnehaha gym, eager to run drills, compete in games and, most of all, meet their hometown NBA champion.
Even while organized games went on, many young campers managed to escape their counselors’ watchful eye to chat with Holmgren.
“Six of them will, like, bombard me with a question — all at the same time,” Holmgren said. “It’s kind of hard to keep up.”
Still just 23, Holmgren carries himself with a thoughtful maturity that belies his age.
