Jalen Williams received nearly 30 painkilling injections in his injured right wrist as the Oklahoma City Thunder were on their way to their first NBA championship. Williams suffered the injury on April 9th when getting tied up with Devin Booker going for a loose ball.
"I got 28 or 29 shots in my hand throughout the playoffs," Williams said on the video. "And I was like, 'That can't be for nothing. We have to win.' So, that was my mentality."
Williams said it was difficult for him to hear criticism of his performance in the second round of the playoffs when he shot 10-for-43 in Games 4 to 6.
"I didn't want to tell the world that I was hurt, and so the world just ganged up on me about how I wasn't ready for the moment. Which obviously is wrong now," Williams said. "But that was the most annoying thing, because human nature is you want to just scream that you're hurt. But I was able to lock in and not use that as an excuse."
Williams bounced back to score 40 points in Oklahoma City's Game 5 win over the Indiana Pacers.
"We won a championship; you can say whatever you want to say now," Williams said. "I will be getting my ring sized here shortly."
