Where there’s a victor, there’s a loser, and sometimes, certain athletes contribute to their team’s shortcomings. These athletes are favorably called bobbleheads.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Chet Holmgren
Early in the playoffs, the Oklahoma City Thunder looked to be in prime position to repeat as champions. They had the best record in the NBA and came into the Western Conference Finals 8-0 in the postseason, sweeping both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns. However, throughout the regular season, one team seemed to have their number, and that happened to be the team they would have to face with a trip to the NBA finals up for grabs.
The San Antonio Spurs went 4-1 against the Thunder during the regular season, and a big part of that was their inability to consistently defend French phenom Victor Wembanyama. With Wembanyama’s 7 '4” stature, the responsibility of defending him primarily falls to Oklahoma City's big man Chet Holmgren (7’1”), who looked completely outmatched on both sides of the floor.
Wembanyama averaged 27 points and 11 rebounds in the series, including a monster 41 point game one. Meanwhile, the Thunder’s $239-million-man didn't even reach double figures in two of the seven games, including a pitiful 4-point performance in game seven. The inability to get any meaningful production out of their starting center when it mattered most is the biggest reason why the Thunder are going home before even getting a chance to repeat as champions — a fact that brings a smile to the face of the 29 other fanbases across the NBA.
The San Diego Padres: The Offense
The San Diego Padres are one of the most fascinating poverty franchises ever. Despite having a very passionate fanbase, a great ballpark and an aggressive front office, they have not had much team success at all. They have never won a World Series and they haven’t won the National League pennant since 1998 although you would never guess any of that if you ever talked to one of their fans.
The Padres actually started the season off strong and held first place in the NL West over the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 18th in spite of their biggest bats — third baseman Manny Machado, center fielder Jackson Merril and right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. — all having down years so far.
Their pitching staff, specifically the bullpen anchored by star closer Mason Miller, had been able to mask their offensive struggles, but since Mason Miller suffered his first loss on May 19, the Padres are 4-13 and the lack of production from their stars seems to have caught up to them. San Diego now find themselves 8 games out of first place.
The Cleveland Cavaliers
Getting swept to end your season is always embarrassing, no matter the context, but the way it happened for the Cleveland Cavaliers was especially hilarious.
A series loss seemed like a foregone conclusion after game one of the Eastern Conference Finals saw an epic collapse from Cleveland as they blew a 22-point lead.
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Notorious playoff-dropper James Harden lived up to his poor postseason reputation, averaging <20 PPG in the series on very poor efficiency as he shot just 25% from the floor in game four. His defense in the series was just as bad, an outcome that surprised no one, except maybe for the Cleveland front office that traded for him back in February.
However, the biggest clown in this series was not a player or an executive, it was Cavaliers Head Coach Kenny Atkinson, whose viral comments regarding “analytically” winning two of three games in a series where they were down 3-0 will be remembered for a long time.
Marley Herndon is a beat reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on X @Dailylobo
