OKLAHOMA CITY — As Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Jalen Williams inches closer to a full recovery from surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right wrist, All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander commended his teammates’ battle through adversity. After winning the 2025 NBA Finals, Williams revealed playing through a broken right wrist. Gilgeous-Alexander addressed Jalen’s postseason approach throughout the Thunder postseason at Media Day on Monday.
Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t surprised to see Williams play through the nagging injury because it’s the kind of Thunder teammate he’s always been, as he noted toward reporters at the Paycom Center.
“Dub — he’s a warrior. He just did whatever it took. And he’s been that all year. He’s been that since he got here. He’s been that for us. He’s been like a Swiss Army knife and just does whatever,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We have no bigs, he plays the 5. On a broken wrist, he has 40 in the Finals — he’s a competitor at his heart, and when that kicks in, it takes over and he’s a winner because of it. It’s impressive what he’s done. I’m not surprised, though.
“He’s a big-time talent, big-time competitor, big-time personality, and he stepped into those moments because of it,” Gilgeous-Alexander concluded.
Williams' playoff career-high 40 points led the Thunder to a crucial 120-109 Game 5 victory against the Indiana Pacers, giving Oklahoma City a critical 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series before clinching a title with a 103-91 win in Game 7.
Jalen Williams' injury revelation after Thunder win NBA Finals
During the offseason, Thunder All-Star Jalen Williams revealed that he played through a fractured ligament in his right wrist while a guest on The Young Man and The Three podcast.
“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.”
"I'm like teaching myself to shoot like a week before the playoffs."
Jalen Williams on playing through a torn ligament in his wrist throughout the Thunder's title run 🗣️
(via @OldManAndThree)pic.twitter.com/bH7ODqoRQI
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 17, 2025
While undergoing numerous ejections before every playoff game, Williams had to shoot with a new brace to minimize discomfort. Sitting out wasn't an option, and the third-year NBA All-Star helped lead his team to its first championship in franchise history.
