Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Jalen Williams recalled the moment every rookie goes through that stays with them for a lifetime. After winning his first title, Williams agreed to a $287 million extension with the Thunder. In 2024-25, he became an All-Star, earned All-Defensive Second Team, and made the All-NBA Third Team. Still, Jalen remembers when Los Angeles Clippers' Kawhi Leonard welcomed him into the league and what coach Mark Daigneault said.
Williams revealed the night Leonard went off on him on the second night of a back-to-back via the Out The Mud podcast with hosts Zach Randolph and Tony Allen.
“We played the Clippers. We beat the Clippers. Kawhi had a horrible game. I did a good job guarding him. So, I'm juiced, but we played them back-to-back. He started the game off 9-for-9 on me,” Williams said. “We go back to the huddle. This is funny. Everybody don't know Mark says slick stuff. He's like, “He's busting your a**, Jalen. Do we need to switch?” I looked at him. I was like, ‘Yeah.' So, Kawhi had 9-for-9 and then, Lu was on him. Kawhi ended up having 30-something.”
The growing pains were real for Williams, who was quick to say he's had a few Welcome to the League moments, plural, while hosts Randolph and Allen were cracking up at Jalen's expense.
“Klay, I was playing good defense on him the whole night. He hit one from behind the backboard, and as it's going in he slapped me on my butt, “Good try, rook.” KD, coming back,” Williams added. “He hadn't played in OKC in a little bit, and he came back to OKC, and he was wilding,” Williams said. “Fans chirping at him, and you know KD talks back. He's talking to the fans while he's bumping me, shooting over me. It was horrible, bro.”
In the end, it appears that Williams' hard work paid off in three short years, as he has emerged as one of the better two-way threats in the NBA while leading the Thunder to its first championship alongside the league's MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Jalen Williams' gift for parents $287 million Thunder extension
After agreeing to a max contract extension, Thunder All-Star Jalen Williams told his parents to retire. He's taking care of them for good, as his life-changing deal put things into perspective. Williams revealed shortly after agreeing to his new deal, per TMZ.
“It's wild because it happened really fast, like within the span of three years, my life is completely different,” said Williams. “I've been fortunate enough to retire my parents.”
Williams and the Thunder will begin their preseason schedule on October 5.
