There’s a funny thing about the NBA. Sometimes, you can be really good and still somehow get forgotten. That might be what has happened with Jalen Williams. It’s easy to forget just how important Williams has been to the Oklahoma City Thunder [https://www.nba.com/thunder/] because last season never really gave him a chance to remind everyone. Injuries kept getting in the way, and instead of spending the year building on what he had already established, Williams spent far too much of it trying to get healthy and stay on the floor. Now, he gets another chance. And honestly, he doesn’t need to prove much. Williams has already shown what kind of player he is. He has been an All-Star. He has been an All-NBA player. He has played a major role on a championship team. But because he wasn’t consistently available last season, some of the conversation around the Thunder has naturally shifted elsewhere. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is coming off another MVP season. Chet Holmgren is entering another season with enormous expectations. Oklahoma City has a bunch of young players people are excited about, too. Then there’s Williams. He can almost feel like the forgotten member of Oklahoma City’s Big Three, which is pretty crazy when you think about it. A healthy Williams changes the way the Thunder can play. He can get downhill and create his own offense. He can make plays without dominating the ball. He can defend. He can play alongside Gilgeous-Alexander or take over when he needs a break. Most importantly, he gives Oklahoma City another player defenses have to worry about. That’s what Williams needs to get back to. He doesn’t need to come out this season trying to average 30 points a night. He doesn’t need to force shots or try to prove that he deserves a bigger role. He just needs to play. Stay healthy. Find his rhythm. Be aggressive. Attack the basket. Take the shots when they’re there. Make the plays we’ve seen him make plenty of times before. The rest should take care of itself. And there’s a good chance that, if Williams can stay healthy, people will start remembering pretty quickly. Because the Thunder didn’t suddenly stop needing Jalen Williams. They just didn’t get enough of him last season. That’s an important distinction. There isn’t much pressure on Williams to rescue anything. The team already has its foundation. What Williams can do is make an already great team even harder to deal with just by being on the floor. In a way, his return could feel like the Thunder adding another major piece without actually adding anybody. That’s how good he can be. Williams doesn’t need to remind everyone that he’s part of Oklahoma City’s future. He doesn’t need to prove he’s a star. He just needs to stay on the court long enough to remind everyone why they thought he was one in the first place. And if he does that, it might not take very long for Jalen Williams to become one of the biggest stories on this Thunder team again.
