Chet Holmgren sends a clear message to the NBA after the latest show from Jalen Williams

The OKC Thunder are on their way to the championship round of the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup after an impressive win over the Houston Rockets last Saturday.

While the win ultimately proved to be a complete team effort, several players throughout the 48-minute exhibition proved invaluable in leading the charge toward Oklahoma City’s tournament push.

One of those people mentioned was third-year forward Jalen Williams, who turned in a stat-sheet stuffing effort, recording 20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal while shooting 40.0 percent from distance in 39 minutes of play.

While certainly a great show, for those familiar with this 2024-25 Thunder team, J-Dub’s performance against Houston was essentially just a regular season game.

Because of this, and the fact that Oklahoma City punched their ticket to the title round as a result of his fruitful work, fellow 2022 NBA Draftee and currently sideline franchise cornerstone Chet Holmgren saw this time in the national spotlight as the perfect opportunity to express their support on social media for the forward to be selected for this year’s All-Star game.

Chet Holmgren supports Thunder forward Jalen Williams’ All-Star bid

While you can certainly argue that Williams’ breakout party came last season, when he averaged 19.1 points, 4.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds in the top seed in the Western Conference standings, his play thus far has in the new campaign proved that there are even higher levels to the youngster’s game, and in 25 games played he has notably risen even higher.

With 32.1 minutes per night, he’s posting career highs of 21.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 2.0 steals and just shy of a block while shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from distance.

While those numbers alone should warrant his consideration for being selected for the star-studded San Francisco showcase this coming February, what should practically cement his claim to the competition is his ability to make an impact in just about every area off the floor. .. and in any position.

Not only has Williams been a dominant, all-around performer on both ends of the ball, but he has been slotted into many obscure spots in coach Mark Daigneault’s rotation out of sheer necessity, with his most conspicuously played position being center.

Despite standing at 6-foot-5 and boasting both the build and game of a traditional three, he is inspiringly excellent at playing the one down to the five and has served as arguably the biggest reason why, that the Thunder are the number one team in the Western Conference with a record of 20-5.

Honestly, his recent showing against Houston was just a taste of what Jalen Williams has been able to accomplish so far this year, and for Chet Holmgren, his production should end up earning him a trip to this year’s All-Star game.