Jalen Williams became an NBA champion last season with the Thunder, silencing several critics about the team’s lack of age and experience. During his recent interview for Slam Magazine’s cover story, Williams spoke about how the Thunder motivated themselves to win a championship.
“Everybody has seen how our demeanour is on the court and off the court. That doesn’t really change. Through the season, our biggest thing is how do we get better every game. We don’t worry about where we are and where we’re ranked, we just go.”
“In that last month, you’re actually playing to solidify home court… And then it’s like for the Playoffs and the ‘too young’ stuff, that was our motivation to lock in and do the whole ‘maturity’ thing,” said Williams with air quotes on the term maturity.
The Thunder as a team had an average roster age of 25.6 years at the time when they won their first NBA championship. They became the youngest team since the 1977 Blazers roster to win a championship. The oldest player on the team was Alex Caruso at age 30.
“I don’t think basketball needs that… I don’t think you need a bunch of veterans to be successful. I think they are definitely useful, but what people overlook is that our program and our organization are kind of like our vets.”
Jalen Williams earned his first All-Star selection in 2024-25 after averaging 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.1 assists during the regular season, while shooting 36.5% from three-point range. Clearly, Williams did not need veterans to help him grow his game. Williams went on to explain how the values of discipline and professionalism were instilled in Thunder players from a very young age.
“I learned how to be a professional even before I signed the papers to be on the Thunder. Like every single ball in the basketball rack needs to face the same way. We tuck our shirts in for practice, and we don’t wear jewellery to practice. That stuff has been ingrained in me since I’ve been in the organization. We didn’t have vets to teach us everything, and we grew up faster due to the environment that we were in.”
The 24-year-old star clearly took the criticism of the Thunder team’s age like a chip on his shoulder. When the lights were at their brightest in Game 5 of the NBA Finals in a must-win situation, Williams dropped 40 points to lead the Thunder to victory.
That to me was the moment we knew age was not the only relevant factor to maturity. It was Williams’ peak maturity moment to carry the team on his shoulders when they needed him. Maybe the idea about needing veteran players with experience to win is a myth, as clearly the Thunder have shown it is possible to do so without any veterans.
