Jalen Williams just played the best basketball of his life, all with a torn ligament in his shooting wrist.
The 24-year-old will undergo surgery on his right wrist after powering through the entire 2025 postseason with the injury, Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti confirmed Monday.
Williams suffered the tear during a late-season win over Phoenix, but never missed a game.
In fact, he closed out that night with 33 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals in 36 minutes, typical of a breakout season that earned him All-Star, All-NBA, and All-Defensive honors.
Even as his wrist required a brace during shootarounds and his shooting efficiency dipped, shooting under 40 percent in nine of OKC’s 23 playoff games, Williams never once used the injury as an excuse.
“The part that I’m most impressed with is in our modern era, when someone has a poor performance, or they’re not playing to their capability in a game and there’s a lot of attention on it, you often see a little birdie make sure that everybody knows that the player is not 100 percent,” Presti told reporters. “Never happened with this guy. Not one time. He powered through. He showed incredible mental endurance and security in himself.”
Williams was instrumental in the Thunder’s championship run, averaging 21.4 points, 5.5 boards, 4.8 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in the playoffs. When Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was hounded by Indiana’s defense in the Finals, head coach Mark Daigneault handed the keys to Williams, and he delivered.
Now, after helping deliver OKC its first NBA title, Williams will get his wrist repaired, and soon, possibly a payday to match.
The 24-year-old is eligible to sign a rookie extension reportedly worth up to $296 million over five years, according to Spotrac’s Keith Smith.
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