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After winning his first NBA Finals, Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Jalen Williams revealed a right wrist injury that forced him to recreate his shot right before the postseason started. En route to his first NBA Finals appearance, Williams underwent a brutal pain management regimen that included 28-29 injections throughout the Thunder's championship run. Jalen discussed the moment he found out about his wrist injury.
Williams discussed the moment he found out about a torn ligament in his right wrist, per The Young Man and The Three.
“He's like I tore it. So, immediately, the first thought is like, well, can I still play, or did I just ruin the season? It took, I'd say, a day and a half, and we kind of came up with a plan to talk to Dr. Chin, who did my surgery,” Williams said. “He's like the GOAT at doing this exact surgery and stuff. He's like, “You can play through it and get shots, and you can't do anything worse to it.” So, that gave me a lot of confidence to go out there and just figure out how to shoot through the pain.”
From there, Williams worked through the pain while testing out his new shot.
“We tried to figure out different pain levels, different ways to shoot,” Williams added. “I'm like teaching myself to shoot like a week before the playoffs. Our medical staff did a good job with that.”
Williams shined in the postseason. He averaged 21.4 points at a 44.9% clip, 5.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.4 steals throughout the playoffs — which was punctuated by a playoff career-high 40 points in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Williams' memorable performance in a critical matchup gave the Thunder a 3-2 lead against the Indiana Pacers before clinching the title in Game 7.
Jalen Williams reveals brutal regimen amid Thunder playoffs
Thunder All-Star Jalen Williams received lidocaine and cortisone shots to manage the pain in his right wrist. Amid the most critical stretch, en route to a championship, Williams did whatever it took to keep himself on the floor.
“I got 28 or 29 shots in my hand throughout the playoffs, and I just was like, that can't be for nothing. We have to win. That was my mentality,” Williams said. “So, after the 40 [points], it kind of sucks, and I talked about it a little bit. I didn't even really get to enjoy it because I was just so focused on let's win the next game, or let's win.”
It all paid off in the end.
