Jalen Williams Would Make Deserving Second All-Star for OKC Thunder

Prior to the season, even before their undisputed success, the Oklahoma City Thunder were thought to have as many as three All-Star candidates: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams.

The first is cruising to another top-two MVP finish — and potentially even a win, if things align — obvious criteria to become an All-Star starter. Holmgren suffered a hip fracture just 10 games into the season, but is trending towards offering his two-way impact to the team again soon. And Williams, amidst the best season of his career, is making his case.

Averaging 20.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game, Williams has been a clear catalyst to OKC’s success.

He’s been the team’s second option in scoring only behind Gilgeous-Alexander, seeing a career-high in points per game. He ranks No. 5 in the entire league in steals per game, and highly in a variety of advanced defensive metrics.

Even more, he’s been one of the driving forces behind OKC’s continued stellar No. 1 defense, even with Holmgren’s injury. Williams has long been able to size up or down on that end of the court, but his ability to morph has been paramount for a team relying so heavily on the defensive end of the court.

Regardless of whether Williams actually earns the bid, it's clear he's put up All-Star impact for the surging Thunder, and would be deserving of the award, even in a loaded Western Conference.

Oklahoma City’s shoo-in Gilgeous-Alexander had his own case for Williams just days ago.

“You don't have this record because of one good player,” he said. “You have to have a second All-Star to help. When I'm out of the game he's carrying the load. Averaging 20 a game on hyper-efficiency and we're first in the West."

There’s certainly merit to SGA’s remarks. Even with a winning scheme and host of role players, there’s little chance OKC is similarly successful without Williams production on both ends.

As it stands now, Williams has received the seventh-most All-Star votes votes in the fan returns, but the ultimate decision will come down to a combination of the fan voting, NBA players and the media.

Regardless of how sound his case is, Williams himself isn’t worried about it at the moment.

"I don't really worry about that," Williams said when asked of his All-Star chances. "I wanna do more to win games. Wherever that falls, is where it falls. I feel like once you get wrapped into that, it starts to hinder team success — we have a bigger goal than going into All-Star. It's one of those things where I'm trying to constantly improve my game to be very good and win the playoffs."

This year's NBA All-Star Game will take place on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. The All-Star starters will be revealed on Thursday, Jan. 23.

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