In the 98-77 victory over the Utah Jazz, Holmgren wowed the fans in his 24 minutes on the court, setting records as he went.
The 20-year-old big man finished with 23 points — including 4-of-6 attempts from three-point range — seven rebounds and four assists.
He also finished with six blocks, the most ever in an NBA Summer League game.
According to ESPN, Holmgren became the first player in Summer League history to record at least five blocks and hit four three-pointers.
Playing alongside much of the Thunder’s vast array of young talent — Josh Giddey, Alekesej Pokusevski, Jaylin Williams and Jalen Williams — Holmgren’s size and shooting ability stood out immediately.
The seven-footer from Gonzaga locked up the paint with his size and displayed some of the crafty offensive skills he’s already learned.
He emphatically dunked the ball to score his first points, hit a three-point shot in the face of seven-foot-six Tacko Fall and hit a fadeaway mid-range shot that bore an uncanny similarity to NBA Hall-of-Famer Dirk Nowitzki.
“Shout out to this guy right here,” he said, pointing to Giddey. “Double-double with assists. Great night for him and that helped me out a lot.”
“Being a high pick like that, there’s a lot of pressure coming in, and he handled it as good as he could’ve. It makes my job easy playing with someone like him. He can stretch the floor, finish at the rim. He protects me, he’s got my back on the defensive end. So love playing with him. It’s been one game, and the chemistry’s only getting stronger.”
The Thunder’s coaching staff was also impressed by Holmgren’s debut performance.
“He obviously had a great game, but the most impressive part to me was he did it within our offense. It looked like team basketball out there and he found success within what we’re doing.”