In his third year with the OKC Thunder, Jalen Williams put forth a truly historic run.
Accompanied by stellar averages of 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.6 steals, and just shy of a block while shooting 48.4 percent from the floor and 36.5 percent from distance, the 24-year-old became the first third-year player in 48 years to earn their first All-Star, All-NBA, All-Defensive Team selection, and first Finals win in the same year.
Yet, despite his record-setting accomplishments and newly added descriptor of NBA Champion, Williams still finds his league-wide status being downplayed and regularly brought into question.
Perhaps the most notable example of this is the ongoing debate on social media that raises the question of who, between him and Orlando Magic star Paolo Banchero, is the superior baller.
Based on the look of things, many X users are torn over which of the two reigns supreme.
From Paolo's bag of tricks on offense to Williams' two-way dominance, both seem to have a ton of backing for their claim to edge out the other.
Now, while this is an entertaining debate for basketball fans to throw their two cents into, to the Thunder star, it's simply a waste of time, and he made his feelings on the matter abundantly clear via his personal X account.
Thunder star puts kibosh on debate between him and Paolo Banchero
In direct response to a post on the matter, with one user predicting that these debates will be looked back on in the same vein as embarassing ones from years past, like Jayson Tatum vs. Kyle Kuzma (yes, at one point lunatic Lakers fans were making some wild arguments), Williams opted to shut down the conversation altogether by killing the participants with kindness.
It’s also possible we can both be great and have long successful careers
— therealjalenwilliams (@jdubwttp) July 6, 2025
As a whole, the conversation of who is better between these two players is rather bewildering, as the vast majority of arguments in favor of Banchero are based on hypotheticals.
Things like "If Paolo had jdub pacing," and "Love JDub but Paolo is a clear #1 option" were all used as cases against Williams, yet they're deeply rooted in "what if" mysteries.
For those who are dying on the hill that Paolo is the top option on his team and, therefore, is the superior player, are we going to pretend that if he were playing next to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as J-Dub is, this status would remain?
At the end of the day, both are tremendous young, proven All-Stars in the association who are still not even in their primes.
With this, Williams wants both of their careers to be celebrated, not compared and contrasted.