Jalen Williams Reflects on Two Year 'Blur' Leading to NBA Finals

It is time for the NBA Finals. Leading into Game 1 of the Mid-Summer Classic, the League held its annual media day, where most players from each roster were made available to speak ahead of the series opener.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have seen a rapid rise up the NBA ladder, going from a two-year tanker to spunky play-in squad and now back-to-back No. 1 seeds leading to the NBA Finals this season. It has been a whirlwind for All-NBA swingman Jalen Williams, who hopped on this moving train in 2022.

At NBA Finals Media Day, Williams headed to the podium to field questions from the assorted media. The biggest stage –– literally –– the 24-year-old has been on to date.

The NBA All-Star described what the feelings are ahead of his first NBA Finals when asked if he has given himself the time to reflect on his journey.

"I haven't really wrapped my head around the fact that I'm in the Finals. I did like the correspondence thing two years ago. I guess it was a year ago. No, two years ago, right? It feels like life has been such a blur since that. I'm still trying to, like, get over the fact that my brother's in the NBA. There's so many things that have happened since then that I'm still trying to take in. It's definitely a blessing that we're here," Williams said at Media Day on Wednesday.

"I try not to get too caught up in it because we still have a job to do. I'm trying to, like, really focus on that. But whenever I can get a couple days off to really look at it, this past week I've been able to be able to really take a step back and look at how far I came," the Thunder All-Star continued.

This has been another year of growth for Williams, personally and as a player, and Oklahoma City has benefited from it. Now, the OKC Thunder are four wins away from capturing its first NBA Championship.

Oklahoma City is poised for a sustained run with this core and the Thunder are led in part by Williams as he joins a special trio alongside League MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Rising Star Chet Holmgren.

The NBA Finals begin on June 5 inside the Paycom Center. Stay tuned to Thunder on SI for complete Finals coverage.