SANTA CLARA, Calif.- Former Santa Clara men's basketball standout and current Oklahoma City guard Jalen Williams helped the Thunder punch their ticket to the 2025 NBA Finals after capturing the Western Conference Championship on Wednesday with a 124-94 game five victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Williams tallied 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the victory to send OKC to the Finals for the first time since 2012.
A native of Denver, Colo., Williams had a breakout year for the Thunder, earning his first NBA All Star team selection averaging 21.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg, and 5.1 apg in the regular season. He was named to the All-NBA Third Team and was an NBA All-Defensive Second Team selection, becoming the first Bronco alum to receive All-NBA honors since Steve Nash.
Williams has continued to thrive in the postseason, posting top five numbers in points (20.4), rebounds (5.8), assists (5.3) and steals (1.6) for the Thunder. The Oklahoma City superstar is also shooting 45.7 percent from the field, 31.8 percent from three, and 77.1 percent from the free throw line. Williams scored in double figures in all five games of the WCF and all but one game this postseason, including a playoff career-high 34 points in the Thunder's decisive 128-126 game four victory in Minnesota.
Williams was a three-year starter for the Broncos in 2019-2022, twice earning All-WCC honors, and was named Second Team NABC All-District in 2021-22, becoming the first Bronco to earn NABC All-District honors since Jared Brownridge in 2016-17. As a junior, Williams led the Broncos with 594 points, which ranks eighth in program history for a single season, and finished second in the WCC with 18.0 ppg. He was the only player in the nation to average 18.0 ppg, 4.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists while shooting 56 percent from 2-point range and 41 percent from beyond the arc. That season he was also a finalist for the Lou Henson Award, given to the nation's top mid-major player.
The No. 12 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, Williams is looking to become the first Bronco to win an NBA Championship as a player since Kurt Rambis in 1988 - the last of four championship titles he won with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Thunder will play the winner of the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks as the Pacers currently hold a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals with game five tonight in New York. Should the Pacers handle business in the ECF, the 2025 NBA Finals will feature Bronco greats on both sides of the bench, as former Bronco Lloyd Pierce serves as the team's top assistant coach. He is looking to become the first Santa Clara Alum to win an NBA Championship in a coaching role since his former SCU teammate Steve Nash won consecutive titles with the Golden State Warriors as a player development consultant.
Regardless of the winner, Oklahoma City will host game one of the NBA Finals next Thursday, June 5 at 5:30 p.m. PT on ABC.
