The OKC Thunder-San Antonio Spurs rivalry quickly turned heated during Tuesday’s season opener. Things escalated in the second quarter after De’Aaron Fox committed a hard foul on Chet Holmgren.

Fox matched up against the much taller Holmgren and tried to stop OKC from exploiting the mismatch. He committed a take foul, but the contact was much harder than necessary and sent Holmgren to the floor.

The sight of a guard knocking down the 7ft 1” Holmgren quickly went viral, with fans joking about how easily Fox was able to move him.

“Chet didn’t even bother to get in the weight room this offseason,” @TGTatum4_3 said.

The play eventually led to a scuffle involving players from both teams. Once things settled down, the officiating crew, led by Ben Taylor, reviewed the incident and handed out several penalties.

De’Aaron Fox was assessed a flagrant 1 for the foul, while Victor Wembanyama, Jaylin Williams, Jalen Williams, and Kenrich Williams were all given technical fouls for escalating the situation.

De’Aaron Fox used summer to get over 2026 Finals disappointment

De’Aaron Fox struggled during the 2026 Finals against the New York Knicks, averaging 12.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per game while dealing with an ankle sprain. His series was also remembered for a costly moment in Game 4, when his late layup attempt was blocked with the Spurs leading by one and only 10 seconds remaining.

The decision to attack the basket in that situation drew plenty of criticism, with Fox admitting that the play replayed in his head for a while. However, he used the offseason to recover from his injury and eventually move on from what happened.

“My mentality on vacation was to get healthy and work, the same as any summer,” Fox said. “I reflected [on the Finals] a bit. But at some point, you have to move on. It took two months. It took a while. But you don’t want to just sit here and dwell on that, knowing you have another season to get ready for.”

“It is what it is. It happened. I’m not going to sit around here thinking about things that happened years ago. So, I’m not going to sit and think about things that happened months ago.”

De’Aaron Fox looked ready to turn the page during the preseason. In the two games he played, he averaged 12.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists, showing that he was healthy to lead the Spurs to another successful season.