After beating the Washington Wizards 136-95, Oklahoma City All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Thunder forward Jalen Williams discussed the 2025 NBA All-Star Game. Gilgeous-Alexander endorsed Williams for his first nod, while Jalen had a surprising take on potentially making his first appearance.

The 2025 All-Star Game will be played in San Francisco, 49 miles from Santa Clara University, Williams’ alma mater. However, the third-year forward has long-term goals beyond being named an All-Star.

“I don’t really worry about that,” Williams said. “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. It’s something cool. I think that would be awesome to go. Obviously, my school is right there too so that would be pretty cool as I’m telling you the reasons I’d like to go. At the same time, we have a bigger goal than me going to the All-Star.”

Still, improvement remains critical for Williams.

“It’s like one of those things where I’m constantly trying to improve my game to be able to be very good and win the playoffs in April and on,” Williams added. “So, I’m not giving it too much thought.”

Averaging 20.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.7 steals, Williams has the stats worthy to be named an All-Star. In addition to being the Western Conference-leading Thunder’s second-leading scorer, Jalen’s two-way production also boosts his chances.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Jalen Williams All-Star plea

Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) shoots the ball as Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma (33) defends in the third quarter at Capital One Arena
Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

After Shai Gilgeous-Alexander delivered his take on winning MVP, he made a case for Thunder forward Jalen Williams’ All-Star selection. Gilgeous-Alexander discussed Williams’ consistent production on a team with the best record in the Western Conference, per Daily Thunder’s Brandon Rahbar.

“For our team to be as good as we’ve been, this far into the season, obviously coming up on the All-Star Game, I think it would only be right for him to be an All-Star,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “You don’t have this record because of one All-Star. You don’t have this record because of one good player. You have to have a team, a collective second All-Star — a very talented basketball player to help.

“A lot of times, I’m out of the game, and he’s carrying the load offensively. He averaged 20 on hyper-efficiency, and we are first in the West. And I think because of that, his case should be sealed. But, hey, that’s just my opinion,” Gilgeous-Alexander concluded.

Thunder will finish their four-game road trip against the 76ers on Tuesday.