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Jalen Williams #8 of the Oklahoma City Thunder

Oklahoma City Thunder star Jalen Williams was back in action Wednesday for just the second time since sustaining a hamstring strain early last month.

Williams, 24, has been limited to just 28 games this season.

The All-NBA swingman missed the first 19 games to start the year because of a surgically-repaired right wrist. Williams injured his shooting wrist just before the start of the 2025 playoffs and somehow managed to play through it while helping the Thunder win the championship. 

In addition to working back from the wrist injury, Williams has been hampered by a pair of hamstring injuries this season. 

He first sustained the injury against the Miami Heat in mid-January. After missing close to a month, Williams returned on Feb. 9 and played just two games before reaggravating his hamstring against the Phoenix Suns two days later in game he was already up to 28 points before the fourth quarter.

At last, it feels Williams is picking up steam. And it’s happening at the right time.

Oklahoma City Thunder Announce Williams Update as he Eases Back

Williams returned from a second hamstring injury against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night. 

The 24-year-old Oklahoma City star recorded 18 points and six assists on 8-for-14 shooting in just 20 minutes of action. 

GettyJalen Williams has missed multiple games with an injury.

In the Thunder’s loss to the Celtics last night, Williams was again held to a lighter load, playing just 24 minutes in a game that felt like anyone’s ballgame the entire night. 

Oklahoma City didn’t initially announce that Williams would be on a minutes restriction in his first few games back from injury. However, following last night’s game, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault revealed how the team is managing Williams as he works his way back to full form. 

“We’re still managing the minutes. We’re soft on that, it’s not a hard cap,” Daigneault said. “We’re definitely not looking at 30-minute nights yet.”

Based on Williams’ minutes played in the two games he’s been back, it appears the Thunder don’t want to play the star forward more than 25 minutes per game just yet. In a testy season filled with injuries, it is wise to keep Williams off full-throttle for now. 

Before losing last night, Oklahoma City was the hottest in the league, winning 12 in a row and 13 of its last 14. 

The team has shown all year it can hide Williams’ absence. The Thunder are 37-8 without their All-NBA and All-Defensive swingman in the lineup this season. 

But everyone inside the organization understands its chances to repeat as champion hinges on Williams’ ability to remain available and play his best. With the playoffs around the corner, Williams has some runway at his disposal to reset and reload.

Williams Shares Struggles Dealing With Injuries 

A year ago, Williams did what few players would even consider doing when he played the entire postseason with a torn ligament in his wrist. 

At times, he looked rough — but he didn’t make it peep about it nor made any excuses. Throughout the bad nights, Williams kept his head down and moved onto the next game. That mentality proved fruitful for the Thunder in the end.

The rising superstar assembled several majestic performances, none greater than a 40-point gem in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, helping the Thunder secure a 3-2 series advantage. 

Williams has been waiting all season to get back to that capacity. He feels he is close, but all the bumps in the road this season have been frustrating to say the least. 

“When you have the same injury twice, it’s a mental obstacle, getting back to doing moves as explosive as you want,” Williams said. “Definitely not an excuse, just something gets [overlooked] but it comes from being on a good team. You don’t want to mess up the flow of the game. It’s moving pieces in the last 10 games of the season.”

The young man has shown mental toughness worthy of applause. The regular season hasn’t gone his way, but knowing Williams the way the Thunder faithful do, he is more than capable of putting this 82-game stretch behind him and rediscovering his superstar ceiling over April, May and June. 

The Thunder remain atop a loaded Western Conference despite being hit hard with adversity. That is perhaps the greatest indicator of their readiness to snatch another Larry O’Brien Trophy.

With under 10 games remaining in the regular season, Oklahoma City has some work to do in getting Williams fully ingratiated ahead of what promises to be a memorable postseason run.