Victor Wembanyama stunned the NBA world by leading the San Antonio Spurs to consecutive victories against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Spurs’ dominant performances forced Kendrick Perkins, a former NBA champion and ESPN analyst, to heavily criticize Chet Holmgren in particular.
Kendrick Perkins Believes That Chet Holmgren Is Scared To Guard Victor Wembanyama
Perkins has experienced success at the highest level. Veteran fans will recall that he helped the Celtics win the 2008 championship by aiding their victory over the late Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. Therefore, he was unable to hold back his disappointment towards Holmgren.
In fact, Perkins went on to call the OKC Thunder center “soft,” for choosing to avoid guarding Wembanyama.
“I gotta get on Chet for a minute. He’s playing soft in this matchup. Victor Wembanyama wants the smoke. He’s ducking that smoke right now… Right now the Spurs are punking the Thunder and making them look soft.”
Kendrick Perkins calls out Chet Holmgren and the Thunder for playing soft vs the Spurs
“I gotta get on Chet for a minute. He’s playing soft in this matchup. Victor Wembanyama wants the smoke. He’s ducking that smoke right now… Right now the Spurs are punking the Thunder and… pic.twitter.com/M7iKp8gU9P
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) December 26, 2025
Although being asked to guard the Spurs’ franchise cornerstone is something that almost any other center in the league would outright refuse to do, Holmgren was not expected to shy away from the assignment. After all, he is one of the tallest players in the league, listed at 7’1″.
Those who were able to watch the back-to-back matchup between the Spurs and Thunder will know that Wembanyama seemed unstoppable for several stretches.
Holmgren, the only player with a decent chance to go over Wembanyama, found himself completely contained. Throughout the two games, Holmgren averaged just 8.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists, nearly half the impact he is known to have in any other game.
On the other hand, Wembanyama seemed to relish the chance at going toe to toe with the defending champions’ center. His length and wingspan enable him to defend against multiple players simultaneously.
Although he averaged 15.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists, those numbers do not truly reflect his impact on the court, something that has continued to stun players across the league.
Perhaps Perkins would have preferred for Holmgren to take on the assignment of guarding Wembanyama, watching him exploit mismatches, and avoiding the need to fight over screens to guard the Spurs star, which would have allowed Holmgren to be viewed as a peer to his contemporary.
Perkins also went on to theorize that Wembanyama and the Spurs have been mocking the Thunder over their three matchups this season. “The Spurs are being very disrespectful when it comes down to the Thunder. … I’ve never seen a team punk the Thunder like I’ve seen over the past few weeks like the Spurs.”
“The Spurs are being very disrespectful when it comes down to the Thunder. … I’ve never seen a team punk the Thunder like I’ve seen over the past few weeks like the Spurs.”
—@KendrickPerkins pic.twitter.com/sv2Tq8gUcV
— First Take (@FirstTake) December 26, 2025
While Holmgren is undoubtedly allowed to believe that he is better, especially since he won a coveted championship last season, the fact remains that he has failed to prove himself against one of the bright young stars of this generation.
Since their recent matchups are enough to reveal a pattern, the pressure is on Holmgren to prove that Wembanyama is not a secret weapon with the potential to kill a dynasty. Fans are left wondering how the matchups between both sides over the years will unfold.
