When the Orlando Magic play the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, Jalen Suggs will face an old friend: Thunder center, Chet Holmgren. 

Holmgren and Suggs were high school teammates at Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and both played a season at Gonzaga, though they were not teammates due to Suggs attending one year prior to Holmgren. 

Though Suggs and Holmgren have only faced each other three times at the NBA level, the former is well-familiarized with their competitive bouts. 

“Yeah, it's always fun,” Suggs said after Monday’s practice. “It's nothing new to us. We've been battling, like you said, since we were young; heated battles. And we're both really high competitors. So, it always makes it fun when we get back on the court and have that familiarity with the person. And also, [we] can come do this at the highest level. 

Suggs’s Magic are 0-3 against Holmgren’s Thunder when the two suit up to play one another, but along with their rivalry comes a longstanding friendship. 

“So, I think it's a really cool full circle moment every time we get back together. And I think especially this time around, celebrating and making his first All-Star. Getting to be back in the building that my brother won a championship in is super cool for me. So, come out tomorrow; compete at the highest level.” 

After falling to the San Antonio Spurs— the second-best team in the Western Conference — on Sunday, the Magic are tasked with facing the league’s defending champions and best team. 

“I mean, they challenge you to be your best,” Suggs said. “And, to come out victorious, you have to be that. So for us, it would be a good opportunity to come out and be what we've been talking about; put live reps into the things that we're trying to work on and get better at against one of the best teams in the league.” 

To beat the best, Suggs also knows it will take a complete effort. 

“I think that's important with anything in the league, you know, no matter who you're going up against. But again, like I said —just being how talented they are and how well they challenge you — it is that 48 minutes of being locked in on details; of playing with effort and playing with energy and intensity.  

If you're able to do those things. You give yourself an opportunity to win at the end of the game in the clutch moment. So, that'll be fun; it'll be a fun opportunity tonight for all of us. I know everybody's excited, you know, not just for this game, but just to continue to have another night.” 

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