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The story of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and the Oklahoma City Thunder is just being written. Over the last three seasons, these two young stars have forged an unbreakable bond and are the driving forces behind their organization's rise. Now, they can call themselves NBA champions after winning Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.
“Nothing is more precious than time,” Williams told ESPN's Scott Van Pelt after Sunday's game. “We've had team dinners after we lost. We've had planes not take off until 4 am, sitting on the runway. Like, all those cool times when we were present with each other, and like had fun… all that stuff — I'm happy I did that with this team. I think that's why we were so good.
“All the off-the-court stuff is what I'll remember.”
When you take a deep dive into how the Thunder were built into the juggernaut that they were during the 2024-25 season, it's quite remarkable what Sam Presti achieved.
That's a whole lotta hardware for Shai & Dub ✨🏆
(via @NBA)pic.twitter.com/qEUTK693PH
— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 23, 2025
Oklahoma City were bottom feeders in the Western Conference when Gilgeous-Alexander was thrust into the No. 1 role on the team and Presti was examining young talents like Chet Holmgren and Williams in the 2022 NBA Draft. It was then, three years ago, before all the championship glory and accolades this team achieved, that Williams became Presti's vision.
Before the 2022 NBA Draft Combine, Williams was a junior from Santa Clara seeking feedback about where he stood among other potential draftees in the 2022 NBA Draft. Early on, it appeared as if he was going to be a second-round pick who would have to fight for his opportunity to secure a roster spot.
After participating in the scrimmages at the combine, leading agents, scouts, and executives stopped in their tracks, as every team in the league began making calls about Williams. The Santa Clara product won everyone over with his performances in the scrimmages, proving that taking the risk of fully participating in the combine isn't so much a risk for those with something to prove.
But it was Presti who recognized the special, unique talents Williams possessed and how he would fit in alongside Gilgeous-Alexander. This kickstarted what would ultimately become the road to a championship, yet nobody actually knew it.
As teams in the top 10 of the 2022 NBA Draft passed on him, Williams fell right into Presti's lap with the 12th pick after the team had taken Holmgren second overall. The future became clear for Williams and the Thunder, as the young wing actually helped create his path to Oklahoma City outside of Presti and the front office's keen eyes because of his connection to Gilgeous-Alexander even before the two met.
Jalen Williams spoke SGA pairing into existence before 2022 NBA Draft
It almost seems as if Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander were destined to be teammates.
These two are always in sync with one another, and it's almost like their emotionless demeanors feed off each other. It is hard to describe, but SGA and J-Dub act like they've been doing this together for decades.
Perhaps that is because they share a lot of similarities and resemble the same type of player.
Gilgeous-Alexander is the league's MVP. He was also the Western Conference Finals MVP and the NBA Finals MVP. He has entered a whole new territory of greatness this season, and Williams has thrived in his role as the superstar's co-pilot.
After all, every top-tier talent throughout the history of the NBA always had a Robin when they were being called Batman.
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Stephen Curry won four rings with Klay Thompson by his side. Kobe Bryant won three rings with Shaquille O'Neal. Of course, there is always the Michael Jordan-Scottie Pippen duo that will forever live as the greatest one-two punch in NBA history, winning six titles together.
These two young Thunder stars have drawn their own comparisons to Jordan and Pippen during this year's championship journey, yet Williams' path to getting here wasn't about becoming the next Pippen or chasing glory. It was about staying true to who he believed he was and consistently learning from the one player he compared himself to in 2022 — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Before the 2022 NBA Draft, I sat down and spoke with Williams about his journey to becoming the league's most-discussed prospect. He was calm, cool, and collected as he is now three years into his NBA career, but what stood out the most is what Williams said about Gilgeous-Alexander before he even knew that the future MVP would be the player and brother he is connected to for the rest of his life.
“Growing up, I was a huge Kobe fan, so you know, that was someone I looked up to,” Williams said in an exclusive interview when questioned about who he tries to model his game after. “Around 16, I kind of figured that I was not going to be playing like Kobe just based off of our builds, but Kobe was a huge influence.
“I think now, I kind of resemble a lot of Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] out in Oklahoma City. I think me and him have a lot of the same tendencies, similar build and how he just plays the game… I would just say Shai probably for me if I was to pick one person. That would be the closest that I have modeled my game after.”
Isn't that crazy? Even before he was the Thunder's pick and had begun his future playing alongside Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams singled out SGA, who was about to turn 24 years old and wasn't an MVP, scoring champion, or even an All-Star at the time.
What makes Oklahoma City special, especially the bond these two young stars share, is that it's not about them. Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams are the epitome of team-first players, and they never once made the spotlight of the 2024-25 season about them. These two show up, do their job, put in the time to be great, and then they hang out with one another off the court as if they were actual brothers.
Admiration and respect are the two words that come to mind regarding the relationship Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams have. They understand that they need one another, and individual accomplishments don't mean anything to them because these two need each other to succeed.
“A once-in-a-lifetime player,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of Williams immediately after being named the 2025 NBA Finals MVP. “Without him, without his performances, without his big-time moments and shotmaking and defending, we don't win this championship. This is just as much my MVP as it is his, and we will share this one for a very long time.
“We're sketched in the book forever. Dub's a winner, that's for sure.
The Thunder have two talents in their 20s who are high-character individuals and aren't afraid of any task they are challenged with. That is why this franchise ultimately won a championship despite being one of the youngest teams ever assembled in NBA history.
This is an unbreakable bond that Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams have with one another, and this is just the start of what is expected to be many more championship runs for the Thunder.
