OKC’s Jalen Williams first All-Star Weekend Recap

March 02, 2023

By Madisen Carter

Oklahoma City Thunder’s Jalen Williams has had a memorable rookie season so far in the NBA. From currently leading the NBA rookies in steals, to being named the Kia NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month in December, to having 39 double-digit scoring games, Williams was able to achieve another milestone a few weeks ago. On February 17th, Williams traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah for the 2023 NBA All-Star Weekend and participated in the Rising Stars Game. 

Williams was one of 11 rookies in the NBA to participate in the Rising Stars Game. Williams was selected by and onto NBA Legend, Joakim Noah’s team alongside his teammate Josh Giddey and other NBA rookies and sophomores. As Williams has been taking everything one step at a time in his career, being a part of the All-Star Weekend was something Williams was not pushing towards, but he said as a kid going to All-Star Games growing up, participating in an All-Star Weekend was something that he had always dreamt about.

“First off, it's an honor… [to] go out there and compete in that and then obviously to be my first one as well was really cool. Growing up going to All-Star Games and watching to now [being] a part of it was pretty surreal,” Williams said. “The game was really fun. It was cool that the NBA is trying out new formats and stuff… I think it made it a little more competitive with kind of having a score limit, and you know, just fun to kind of go out there and play with the rookies that I haven't got a chance to play with, and they’re all super talented so it was cool.”

Because WIlliams’ team told him to wear something “crazy” during the Rising Stars Game, he showed out in mismatched pink and white Adidas Harden Vol. 7 shoes, and he said the colors ended up looking good with his team's baby blue jerseys. When asked who had the best fit in the Rising Star Game and the All-Star Game, he said it was definitely between himself and his teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

During the All-Star Weekend, Williams was able to get some footage for a few videos that are going to soon be dropped on his YouTube Channel. Williams said he is very excited for the vlogs as he was able to get footage from his cameraman JoJo and from himself using a GoPro, giving his subscribers a behind the scenes look of the weekend. 

“I got to interview some really cool people [while] I had [the GoPro] during some events. I was able to get my cameraman JoJo into a lot of stuff, so yeah, it'll be cool,” Williams said. “Hopefully the viewers will get to see a lot of stuff that they probably don't know that goes on throughout All-Star Weekend, and stuff like that, and how busy it actually is. So it'll be cool to kind of get that insight.”

With only a few more months of the regular NBA season, Williams is focused on staying on his steady incline. Williams is averaging 12.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game and recently tied his career-high 27 points scored in a single game against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday. He has been working with Unlimited Potential Basketball’s Packie Turner, and said it has been good having Packie add consistency to his life to get in those extra shots. 

“It's hard to have individual work during the season just because you're playing so many games. So being able to sneak in a couple extra workouts has been kind of big for me and my development. I think that's something that, you know, especially being the younger player kind of goes under valued. You don't really think about it,” Williams said. “I've been able to get extra work in with him and kind of just fine tune a lot of the little stuff. I've been finishing really well around the basket this year, so trying to keep that [up and] trying to keep my touch and my three ball.”

Coach Packie is currently in Oklahoma City working with Williams and keeping him ready for the remainder of his rookie season. Williams and the Thunder take on the Utah Jazz at home on Friday night. We all at UPB wish Willams good luck during the game and for the rest of the 2022-23 season!

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