After a lingering hamstring injury sidelined the force multiplier during the Western Conference Finals, a rejuvenated Jalen Williams returns to lead Oklahoma City’s pursuit of an NBA title.
Not sure how it happened, but the best and biggest news of OKC Thunder Media Day on Monday became an underappreciated secondary headline.
While plenty of Thunder Media Day blog, podcast and social media space has been dedicated to the Cason Wallace contract extension, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's offseason improvement, the team missing departed players in Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe, the new look of the squad and how young guys are ready to step into more prominent roles, the lede was buried.
Jalen Williams is healthy. Totally healthy.
"When did I get totally healthy? I don't remember, to be honest," Williams answered in response to his first question on media day. "Somewhere, sometime in the summer, pretty early on. When did we stop playing, like end of May? So maybe middle of June. A little earlier than that. I was going pretty, pretty much seamless by like the middle of June."
This is massive news for Thunder fans. There is always a bit of residual worry about hamstring injuries because of their tendency to linger. Knowing that the player that Sam Presti just called the team's "force multiplier" is a full go for training camp is a huge sigh of relief for all supporters of the squad.
OKC missing their second best player throughout the Western Conference Finals was felt in every rotation on both offense and defense. Williams' ability to handle the ball, make plays for others and create shots draws defensive attention and gives the back to back MVP a bit more room to breathe. His ability to defend 1-5 at an elite level is a cheat code.
The Thunder were just a couple plays away from returning to the NBA Finals despite missing both Williams and Ajay Mitchell. This season may serve as a reminder of what a force of nature he can be on a basketball court. But Williams isn't too concerned about jogging anyone else's memory. He is just ready to play ball.
"Remind people of how good I am? I guess, yeah," Williams said. "Yeah, I would definitely say that, but it's also more just I'm more excited to remind myself that I play basketball, if that makes sense. I've never sat out that long. So I'm more just excited to go hoop again. I know what I am, so I'm not too concerned about trying to prove to somebody. We've all seen it. I'm just excited to prove that I can play healthy and do that whole thing and move on. I'm just excited to get going."
