Thunder’s Jalen Williams puts wrist injury into perspective amid hamstring injury recovery

As Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gears up for his return ahead of facing the Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder’s Jalen Williams is entering the final stages of recovering from a right hamstring injury. After missing the first 19 games of the regular season recovering from wrist surgery, Williams’ hamstring injury carried through the All-Star break after he re-aggravated his right hamstring. He’s one week away from being re-evaluated.

Williams expressed his frustration with another injury setback during the defending champion Thunder’s regular season, he said, during his All-Star break vlog.

“I pulled my hamstring literally 12 seconds before I was about to come out of the game,” Williams said. “So, I re-aggravated it. Now we’re here. My whole All-Star week I was going to just really just grind, bro. Just kind of spamming getting in shape and staying healthy, and my wrist has never felt this good. That plan has been derailed a lot.”

Williams was looking forward to spending his All-Star break working on his shot, as he’s spent the regular season adjusting to the two surgeries he underwent to repair the torn ligaments in his right wrist. Instead, he spent it rehabbing from a hamstring injury that’s kept him from playing basketball for 16+ days.

“It’s super frustrating because I’m dealing with my hand, which has gotten infinitely better, and that one finally starts to get back to normal, and I pull my hamstring not once, but right when I rehab it after a month,” Williams added. “I pulled it the same week after having two good games, where I look normal again. So, that really sucked. Just get ready for April now to finish out the season strong for real, and healthy.”

With only 22 games left in the regular season, the Thunder’s 45-15 record leads the NBA.

Thunder teammates show out for Jalen Williams’ jersey ceremony

Ahead of facing the Suns, Thunder forward Jalen Williams had his jersey retired by Perry High School, located outside of Phoenix, Arizona. Williams discussed what the special moment felt like alongside his teammates, friends, and family.

“It put it into perspective a little bit more just because I was the first one up there. It’s my high school. I was 14 going there. I didn’t think none of that would happen. It wasn’t even a thought,” Williams said. “So, that definitely brings it a lot into perspective. Just how much it means to me and my family, and there’s a legacy involved in that. Then, having my brother go to that same high school and for him to win their first two rings ever, in the program, is really cool.

“It’s something that kind of goes by. I don’t really think about it. But yesterday definitely brought me back down to earth a little bit. Kind of reminding me of how far I’ve come.”

Williams could make his return by next week.

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