Kevin Durant and Chet Holmgren were among the NBA stars who participated in an offseason basketball run organized by trainers Dash and Drew Hanlen.
Basketball page Swish Cultures shared a video of the star-studded pickup game, which featured not only Durant and Holmgren, but also Houston’s Jalen Green, Cleveland’s Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, Milwaukee’s AJ Johnson and Marjon Beauchamp, Utah’s Jordan Clarkson, Philadelphia’s Kelly Oubre and Golden State’s Moses Moody.
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The game was organized by Hanlen, a skills coach and CEO of Pure Sweat Basketball. The basketball academy was the one that brought together these players.
It’s common for NBA stars to compete against each other when there are no official games. As training camp begins on October 1, some players turn to pickup games to keep their competitive edge during the offseason.
Preseason games will run from October 4 to 18, while the regular season will kick off on October 22.
Chet Holmgren reflects on the devastating injury that sidelined him for a year
Holmgren, who finished as the runner-up in last season’s Rookie of the Year race, recently opened up about suffering a devastating injury that delayed his NBA debut by a year. He missed the entire 2022-23 season because of a lisfranc injury that he sustained during an offseason Pro-Am game.
In an episode of “Podcast P” hosted by Paul George, Holmgren explained that his eagerness to play led him to push too hard.
“It was a bunch of All-Stars in the game, so I’m just, like, trying to hoop,” Holmgren explained. “I think I overdid it that summer, honestly, cause I was everywhere…I think I just overdid it.”
However, he clarified that his injury was simply the result of a “wrong step.”
“I don’t think it’s like an injury that happened because I overdid it. Like, it was a freak injury that just, you know, can’t really control. Sometimes you take one wrong step.”
In his rookie year, Holmgren averaged 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.3 blocks without missing a single game.
He anchored OKC’s defense, which ranked fourth in the league by defensive rating, and solidified his reputation as one of the top shot blockers and rim protectors in the NBA. Alongside a young core, the Thunder finished with the best record in the Western Conference.
