Jalen Williams is down. He took a painful blow to the face during OKC Thunder’s game against the Warriors when Jonathan Kuminga’s off-hand hit him in the eye. This happened while Jalen was attempting a dunk. He was visibly shaken after the impact and stayed on the ground for several moments, as the Thunder medical staff rushed to his aid.

After a brief period of being woozy, Jalen Williams was assisted by the team’s staff and walked off the court slowly with 36 seconds left in the first half. He was heading to the locker room to be evaluated. The collision occurred during a fast-paced sequence, with JK recovering from a rough shooting start to score eight points in the second quarter.

Despite the setback, Jalen Williams appeared to regain his footing shortly after the incident. The Thunder will probably await further updates on his condition. In 16 minutes, Williams scored 13 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds each.

Interestingly, in the process, Jalen Williams did make a little history as the 23-year-old surpassed James Harden for the 11th place on Oklahoma’s all-time list for points scored! As of now, Williams has a total of 2,800 points while ‘The Beard’ shifted to #12 with 2,787.

Going back to the young forward/guard’s status now; he is, unfortunately, not on the floor to start the second half. 21-year-old guard, Cason Wallace, has taken his place for the third quarter. Apart from this setback, however, Jalen Williams has been having a breakout season, making a strong case for an All-Star nod.

Jalen Williams is on a breakout season as he makes his case for All-Star nod

Since Chet Holmgren went down with a hip injury, Jalen Williams has truly stepped up for his team. Over the past few weeks – and really all season – he’s been playing like an All-Star. He has seamlessly slid into the role of the Thunder’s second star, and with each game, he seems to make strides in his improvement!

In the last two outings alone, the Denver native dropped a combined 58 points on 21-of-35 shooting. This scoring pace in itself was so historic that Williams effectively made history recently. In his 28-point performance against the Kings, Jalen Williams joined the short yet legendary list of 11 players to score 25+ points, shoot over 50%, and dish out 5+ assists in four straight games. And at 23 years or younger.

The names on the exclusive list are indeed legendary – Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and Oscar Robertson, to name a few. And with this achievement, Williams has become the fifth active player to be part of the squad. The other four names are LeBron James, Luka Dončić, Zion Williamson, and Tyrese Haliburton.

You don’t need us to tell you that all of them have received multiple All-Star nods. As such, Jalen Williams has also made his case to be part of the illustrious festivities!

Going back to his final status for tonight, ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk confirmed that Williams has been “ruled out of the game.” This certainly has come at a crucial time. However, it’s hard to ignore the momentous strides he’s taken in just his third year in the league. Hopefully, his right eye injury is not serious and he can return for OKC’s next matchup against the Lakers in the NBA Cup.