Jalen Williams' eye injury: How it happened and how long will the Oklahoma City Thunder player be out for?
Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Jalen Williams suffered an injury in his debut against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Unfortunately, for the young player, his debut was cut short after receiving a nasty shot to the head from Jaden McDaniels. Of course, none of that was intentional by McDaniels as he was just trying to dunk on Williams.
Apparently, that wasn't a good idea as Williams got smacked in the head, which resulted in an eye injury. The rookie, who received a foul call, stayed on the ground for a few minutes.
Williams was eventually brought to the locker room by Thunder personnel, but he never returned. He officially finished the game with five points and one assist in six minutes of play. Given the rate he was going at, we could've seen more from him had this incident not happened.
As of the time of this writing, there is no word regarding when Jalen Williams will make his return. We're assuming he won't be gone for too long considering that none of his body parts are broken. Although his right eye looks very swollen, Williams just needs to ice it until the swelling subsides. We're predicting that he could come back in two weeks.
Jalen Williams' journey to the NBA
Jalen Williams was one of the smallest players on the court growing up as a kid. During his time playing basketball for Perry High School, Williams only stood at 5 ft 10. In his sophomore year, that's when his growth spurt finally happened. He grew eight inches taller between his sophomore and senior years and became one of the most talented prospects in the country.
After graduating in 2018, Jalen Williams decided to play for the Santa Clara Broncos in college. He was a two-way player who contributed both on offense and defense. During his freshman year, Williams averaged 7.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.3 steals. On paper, it doesn't seem like much, but his team counted on him to knock down some crucial shots.
As a sophomore, Williams had 11.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.2 steals. This was also the first year he was selected for the All-WCC. Finally, in his third year, he topped his average per game by averaging 18 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists while having another All-WCC selection.
Williams declared his entry for the 2022 NBA Draft after his third year with Santa Clara ended. Jalen Williams was the 12th overall pick in the first round selected by the Oklahoma City Thunder. It seems like the Thunder made the right decision by drafting him. As of October 14, Williams was averaging 14.4 points, 5.2 assist, three rebounds, and 1.8 steals on 61% FG in the preseason.
If not for the dunking incident with Jaden McDaniels, we would've seen Williams put up double figures against the Wolves. The good news is, it's still early in the season and there are plenty more games for him to play.