Thunder’s Jalen Williams preaches patience after making season debut

As the Oklahoma City Thunder attempt to create the NBA’s next dynasty, a crucial piece to that puzzle returned on Friday, as Jalen Williams made his comeback in the 123-119 win over the Phoenix Suns. While the Thunder star had been receiving encouraging updates as of late, he finally made his return after missing 19 games this season, as Williams spoke about making his season debut.

Williams would get the start, playing 29 minutes, as he scored 11 points on three of 12 shooting from the field to go along with eight assists, four rebounds, and two steals. After the game, in his post-game press conference, Williams spoke about how it’ll take patience to return to the player he once was, with these first few games helping him get his feet under him.

“It’s gonna take some time,” Williams said, according to Michael Martin. “I haven’t played in forever, and there was just a lot of like behind the scenes, as far as, like, what was actually going on with my hand and two hand surgeries, like, still trying to figure my way out through, like, my jump shot and dribbling, and, like, trying to get my touch back, and that’s just something that’s got to progress throughout the season.”