Chet Holmgren reveals that he finds Dillon Brooks' attempts at gamesmanship funny originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.Before games, Oklahoma City Thunder big man Chet Holmgren often gets the ball to shoot the ball in the air as his pre-game ritual. Unfortunately, he had to wait before doing it ahead of Game 1 against the Phoenix Suns.Dillon Brooks, who is well-known for his antics, did not let Holmgren do it.

This was something to be expected from Brooks, which made it an even worse look because the Suns got blown out by 35 points in Game 1.Chet Holmgren does not take issue with Dillon Brooks' mind gamesFor the longest time, Brooks has been in the NBA as an instigator. He managed to shed that reputation a bit during the 2025-26 season with the Suns. Brooks was excellent in the regular season, proving that the Suns were valid in trading Kevin Durant for him and Jalen Green.In his best regular season performance, Brooks averaged 20.2 points per game.

While he still has some antics here and there, it was an impressive performance. Those antics reared their ugly head in Game 1 of the series against OKC.MORE: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander fires back at the critics for his foul-drawing abilityHolmgren tried to do his pre-game ritual, but Brooks was being stubborn. Thankfully, Chet did get to do it afterwards, which nullified Brooks' antics a bit.While some players might take issue with that, Holmgren felt it was something that he understood because mind games are part of succeeding in the league."I mean I wouldnt hand him the ball either.

I didn't take it personal. He has his persona that he plays, and I think he wanted to give it to his guy, but I still got my touch before the game started," Holmgren said about Brooks' gamesmanship.This is a good sign for the Thunder because they are unfazed by what they are getting from their opponents. Some players will want to play the mind games, but as long as they have a level head, they should be in a good spot moving forward.More NBA news:The Spurs are seen as the biggest threat to the Thunder's title hopesJared McCain loves how he is playing in the postseason for the ThunderShai Gilgeous-Alexander is the frontrunner for the MVP award once againThe Thunder might have the perfect path to the NBA Finals againMark Daigneault and the OKC Thunder have no specific issue with the Los Angeles Lakers