OKC Thunder: Kenrich Williams is about the simple things in life

While nicknames are synonymous with sports and the NBA has some of the best the player on the OKC Thunder who arguably possesses the best moniker is Kenrich Williams, Kenny Hustle as the league refers to him.

He returns for his fourth season in the NBA and second with the Thunder. At 26 he’s also one of the oldest players on Mark Daigneault’s squad and has one of the most defined roles on a team that is widely viewed as a “blank canvas.”

OKC Thunder Kenrich Williams enjoys the simple things in life

To suggest Williams is all hustle and no substance would be incorrect. Williams had some of the best statistical achievements for the Thunder last season. He was the team’s ironman appearing in 66 games, the most on the team.

More impressively, he poured in the most efficient 3-point shooting percentage (44.4 percent) on the squad. Though that shooting touch didn’t translate to the charity stripe where he struggled, shooting below 60-percent.

Kenrich Williams feels right at home in Oklahoma City, calling it similar to his hometown of Waco Texas “Oklahoma City is just bigger” adding he “stays by the Lake, so I am able to go out and enjoy the weather.” mentions for him, it is about “the simple things in love.” raving about Oklahoma City’s parks as well.

The outdoorsmen also praised Derrick Favors, calling his former Pelicans teammate a good player to look up to off the court for how to be a professional.

K-Rich, as Mark Daigneault commonly calls him, had high praise for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander saying last season and this season he has been “locked in since day one.” mentioning before last year “I had no idea he was that good playing against him.” adding now he is “One of the best young players in the NBA. [Shai Gilgeous-Alexander] has a bright future.”

Williams’ hustle was always on display as he seemingly was always in the right place to grab a board, force a turnover or snare a steal.  Although he ranked third in defensive plus/minus (+0.7) to put that in perspective the players ahead of him played only 18 (Darius Miller) and 28 (Al Horford) games. compared to Williams’ 66. Kenrich also ranked third in VORP (0.6) behind just Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Horford.