Shaq says the Thunder have no Big 3 because Chet is a role player: ‘They got a Big 2’

There’s a real argument to be made that the Oklahoma City Thunder employ three star players in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren.

Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams are averaging 20-plus points, five-plus assists and five-plus rebounds per game in these playoffs for a Thunder team that’s set to soon play in the NBA Finals. Meanwhile, Holmgren is an elite defensive anchor while being an effective rebounder and floor spacer to boot.

Former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t think the Thunder have a Big 3, though. He sees Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams as the team’s Big 2 and believes Holmgren to be a role player.

“We give away too many titles sometimes,” O’Neal said, pushing back on the idea that the Thunder have a Big 3. “They got a Big 2. That motherf—– J-Dub serious. He can play. Other guy’s just a role player, stop it.”

He continued.

“Yes,” O’Neal said when asked to clarify that Holmgren is just a role player. “He’s a great role player. He’s a Horace Grant or Toni Kukoc, not taking away. But he’s not a Big 3, stop it.”

Holmgren might not be a traditional star in the sense that he can be relied on to score a whole lot of points on any given night like Williams or Gilgeous-Alexander, but his play in these playoffs indicates that he might be a two-way star.

After all, across 16 starts so far in the 2025 NBA Playoffs, he’s averaging 16.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots per game.

What makes Holmgren’s playoff production particularly impressive is that he was sidelined for much of the 2024-25 regular season thanks to a right iliac wing fracture. He was on the floor in fewer than half of Oklahoma City’s 82 games played, as he appeared in just 32 contests.

For as much credit as Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander deserve for the Thunder being in the NBA Finals and four wins away from an NBA title, it’s hard to believe they would be in this position without the two-way play of Holmgren, who is trying to win a championship early on in his pro tenure.

Fans of the Thunder won’t have to wait long to see Holmgren play in the championship series for the first time as an NBA player, as Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Thunder and Indiana Pacers will take place on Thursday night.

Holmgren and the Thunder hope to pick up a home victory in that contest and get off to the championship series on the right foot, as a loss would give the Pacers home-court advantage in the series for the time being.