The Oklahoma City Thunder have already enjoyed a dominant start to the season, and now they’re set to get one of their best players back on the court.
Per ESPN’s Shams Charania, Jalen Williams will make his season debut on Friday against the Phoenix Suns after starting the season off the court while recovering from an offseason wrist surgery.
Williams teased his return on social media:
Williams played through a ligament tear in his wrist during the Thunder’s championship run and underwent surgery in July, initially setting him back 12 weeks. After his surgery, Williams revealed the lengths he went through to stay on the court for Oklahoma City in the Finals.
“I got 28 or 29 shots in my hand throughout the playoffs, and was like, ‘That can’t be for nothing. We have to win.’ So that was my mentality,” he said. “So after the 40 [points in Game 5]… it kinda sucks, and I’ve talked about it a little bit, but I didn’t really get to enjoy it because I was so focused on, ‘Let’s just win the next game. Let’s win however we need to win in seven, because there’s just no way I get all these shots and we lose.’ That was my thought process throughout the whole thing.”
Williams had a tremendous third season in 2024-25, putting up 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists, earning his first All-Star nod plus an All-NBA Third Team selection and an NBA All-Defensive Second Team bid.
In 23 postseason games, he posted 21.4 points, 5.5 boards and 4.8 assists per game. He had a tremendous showing in the Finals, including a 40-point outing in Game 5.
In October, as Williams was nearing his return, he had a follow-up procedure to remove a screw that was causing irritation, pushing his expected return back by a few weeks.
Luckily for the Thunder, Williams’ absence hasn’t been too damaging. Oklahoma City is 17-1 to start the season and has won 10 consecutive games.
Williams’ return will only make the NBA’s best team even better as they look to win back-to-back titles.
