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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Clemente Almanza

‘He’s gonna be a star’: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander talks about Jalen Williams’ rise

The Oklahoma City Thunder has developed one of the most promising young trios in the league. Sitting at 20-9, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams have led OKC to its best start in years.

In their most recent win, the duo of Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams each scored 36 points apiece against the New York Knicks. The former has blossomed into one of the best players in the league and the latter looks like he could be on a similar trajectory.

In his second season, Williams has exponentially improved as a self-created scorer — sitting in the 90th percentile of isolation scorers in the league. He continues to establish himself as the second-best scorer on the team.

When asked if he sees any similarities in Williams’ game to his, Gilgeous-Alexander said he does, noting how much the duo stick together.

“I see a lot of it. Dub works out with me all the time,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “None of it I’m surprised by… Obviously, we’ve grown a lot closer since Day 1. He’s getting better every day. He’s gonna be a star in this league for a long time as we can see, sky’s the limit for him.”

This rings as a pretty strong endorsement for the 22-year-old wing. The chemistry between Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren continues to grow as OKC cracks open a contention window behind the trio.

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