Coasting through the regular season, the Oklahoma City Thunder joined a rare club of capturing the first seed a month before the year even ended. It’ll be back-to-back years where the young squad will have the West’s best record. Only this time, there was a lot less drama involved.
As the Thunder broke their franchise record with a 65th win, only five days remain in the 2024-25 regular season before the playoffs begin. Award races are either already decided or heating up. For the MVP race, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has become the runaway favorite.
Expect Gilgeous-Alexander to make his third straight All-NBA First Team, He’s blossomed into one of the NBA’s best players with three hyper-efficient 30-plus point campaigns on a title contender. Considering OKC’s dominance, Jalen Williams has a decent chance to join him in the exclusive 15-player club that showcases the league’s best players that season.
Juggling injuries, Williams stepped up as the Thunder’s second-best player. He’s averaged an efficient 21-5-5 line while playing Draymond-esque defense as someone who can defend all five positions and three levels on the court. He was already recognized for his improvement when named an All-Star for the first time this season. The next stop could be an All-NBA team.
Filling out the three All-NBA teams, Williams is on the bubble. His box score stats may be modest compared to his competition, but the advanced metrics love him and the Thunder’s historic success should earn another All-NBA player. For the 23-year-old, he played it cool when asked about the possibility of being named as an All-NBA player.
After Williams stepped up with an efficient 26 points in a 136-120 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, he said he’d rather see his teammates get awarded and that he’s more focused on an NBA championship.
“I haven’t thought about it at all. It’d be cool. I think 65 wins is way cooler than All-NBA,” Williams said. “Both would be great but that’s not what I’m playing for. Obviously, we’re playing to play way further than April. That’s what I look forward to. I don’t think that’s really something I’d be bummed out if I didn’t. It’d be really dope to be on there.”
The good news for Williams is that it doesn’t need to be one or the other. Expect the Thunder to be showered with plenty of individual accolades during award season. That’s what happens when you have one of the greatest regular seasons ever.
“I think I’m probably more of a heavy advocate for Shai to be MVP and Lu to be on there. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t,” Williams said, “Like I said, 65 wins and being able to add to that is more impressive to me than that.”
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Does Jalen Williams care if he makes an All-NBA team this season?
Coasting through the regular season, the Oklahoma City Thunder joined a rare club of capturing the first seed a month before the year even ended. It’ll be back-to-back years where the young squad will have the West’s best record. Only this time, there was a lot less drama involved.
As the Thunder broke their franchise record with a 65th win, only five days remain in the 2024-25 regular season before the playoffs begin. Award races are either already decided or heating up. For the MVP race, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has become the runaway favorite.
Expect Gilgeous-Alexander to make his third straight All-NBA First Team, He’s blossomed into one of the NBA’s best players with three hyper-efficient 30-plus point campaigns on a title contender. Considering OKC’s dominance, Jalen Williams has a decent chance to join him in the exclusive 15-player club that showcases the league’s best players that season.
Juggling injuries, Williams stepped up as the Thunder’s second-best player. He’s averaged an efficient 21-5-5 line while playing Draymond-esque defense as someone who can defend all five positions and three levels on the court. He was already recognized for his improvement when named an All-Star for the first time this season. The next stop could be an All-NBA team.
Filling out the three All-NBA teams, Williams is on the bubble. His box score stats may be modest compared to his competition, but the advanced metrics love him and the Thunder’s historic success should earn another All-NBA player. For the 23-year-old, he played it cool when asked about the possibility of being named as an All-NBA player.
After Williams stepped up with an efficient 26 points in a 136-120 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, he said he’d rather see his teammates get awarded and that he’s more focused on an NBA championship.
“I haven’t thought about it at all. It’d be cool. I think 65 wins is way cooler than All-NBA,” Williams said. “Both would be great but that’s not what I’m playing for. Obviously, we’re playing to play way further than April. That’s what I look forward to. I don’t think that’s really something I’d be bummed out if I didn’t. It’d be really dope to be on there.”
The good news for Williams is that it doesn’t need to be one or the other. Expect the Thunder to be showered with plenty of individual accolades during award season. That’s what happens when you have one of the greatest regular seasons ever.
“I think I’m probably more of a heavy advocate for Shai to be MVP and Lu to be on there. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t,” Williams said, “Like I said, 65 wins and being able to add to that is more impressive to me than that.”
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Does Jalen Williams care if he makes an All-NBA team this season?
