Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams will undergo surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left wrist, general manager Sam Presti said Monday. The first-time All-Star is expected to be available for the start of the 2025–26 regular season as the Thunder begin their defense of the NBA title.
Presti said Williams suffered the injury late in the regular season against the Phoenix Suns in the second game of a back-to-back. The injury is “common” and Williams should have no issues recovering.
“I want to just acknowledge for a second how impressed I am with him,” Presti said. “… The part that I’m most impressed with is, in our modern era, when someone has a poor performance or they’re not playing to their capability in a game and there’s a lot of attention on it, you often see a little birdie make sure that everybody knows that the player is not 100%. Never happened with this guy. Not one time. He powered through. He showed incredible mental endurance and security in himself. I’ve said this many times: The best players are secure players.
“And I really thought it was pretty impressive that he just kept moving along with no excuses — and obviously played his best basketball down the stretch of the season.”
Williams was a key No. 2 behind MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He averaged 21.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game during the playoffs. The third-year standout from Santa Clara earned a spot on the All-NBA Third Team and NBA All-Defensive Second Team.
Overall, Williams delivered a strong postseason showing while helping Oklahoma City capture its first NBA title since relocating from Seattle ahead of the 2008–09 season. He hit a rough patch in the Western Conference semifinals against the Denver Nuggets, averaging 17.6 points on just 37.5% shooting.
But he rebounded in the Western Conference Finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves, putting up 22.2 points per game while shooting 49.4% from the field. In the Finals, he averaged 23.6 points and shot 43.3%, capping a breakout playoff run.
