OKC Thunder star Jalen Williams sustained a hip injury back on March 10 following an awkward collision with Denver Nuggets forward, Peyton Watson.
Though initial rumblings suggested he may only be sidelined for the club's three-game road trip that directly followed this contest, before fans even knew it, what once was expected to be a three-day hiatus extended to multiple weeks.
As a result, many fans and pundits started to fear Williams' injury may be more severe than initially believed. Considering the fact that his own rising stud running mate, Chet Holmgren, was shelved for roughly three months with a hip ailment himself earlier in the year, it's hard to blame people for jumping to such a harrowing conclusion.
Fortunately, the forward managed to officially make his return to the rotation during Thursday night's game against the Memphis Grizzlies and, in his 29 minutes of play, seemingly put the kibosh on any concerns of potential lingering issues from his injury.
Jalen Williams quiets fears of lingering injury issues with Thunder return
Right from the jump, Williams seemed to have picked up right where he left off, playing without hesitancy or any reservations in his game.
Despite his sloppiness when handling the ball (committed a team-high four turnovers), the All-Star played as if he hadn't missed a beat, dropping in crucial, Grizzlies momentum-halting offensive contributions down the stretch, and wrapping up his night with 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists on a highly efficient 50.0 percent shooting from the floor and 100 percent shooting from distance.
These numbers are right on par with his season averages of 21.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.3 assists on 47.8 percent shooting from the floor and 36.4 percent shooting from distance.
Following the game, Williams further quelled fears over the possibility of seeing any residual side effects from his hip ailment, telling reporters that he feels he did "a good job" with his rehab and that the Thunder training staff "wouldn't throw me out there if I wasn't ready to play back to how I was playing."
Jalen Williams' return to the rotation comes at quite an ideal moment, as Oklahoma City has nine games remaining on their regular season docket, providing him ample time to get reacclimated to in-game action before they embark on what is hoped to be a deep and prosperous playoff run.
Along with this, the cherry on top of his return is that the Thunder managed to win their franchise record-setting 61 win, as they wound up downing the visiting Grizzlies by a final score of 125-104.