At one point, while providing epic late-game heroics that ultimately lifted the OKC Thunder to a 119-110 win over the Lakers on Monday night, All-Star Jalen Williams was visibly reeling following a collision with LA big man Deandre Ayton.
Grabbing at and massaging his surgically repaired wrist that initially sidelined him for the first five weeks of action here in 2025-26, Oklahoma City fans grew rather concerned over the idea that the forward may have reaggravated something.
Considering his checkered health this year, along with the rest of the club's inability to remain available, it's easy to see why such fears immediately arose.
Fortunately, following the contest, Williams put any unease felt by the fanbase to rest, as he told reporters during his post-game media session that his wrist "feels great" and that, even though it got jammed up after running into Ayton, any pain felt "went away" rather quickly.
Thunder can now take sigh of relief after Jalen Williams comments
Hearing Williams downplay his display of pain on the court is a breath of fresh air for the Thunder, as the 24-year-old has been hobbled by injuries throughout this year's campaign.
After missing the first 19 games of the year as a result of his wrist rehab program, J-Dub finally made his debut in late November and played in 24 straight before being shelved yet again for three full weeks with a hamstring strain.
Their game against the Lakers served as his first after being reinstated.
Sadly, these health woes have proven to be an unfortunate trend for the Thunder during their title defense tour, as they've already had eight key members of their rotation miss double-digit games, with Williams, Jay Will, and Kenrich Williams all missing 20 or more.
It should come as no surprise, then, that Oklahoma City registers within the top three in the association in games lost to injury this year.
Things have gotten so devastating, in fact, that, per Dan Woike of The Athletic, the league is now investigating the Thunder for the number of player absences they had during last week's nationally televised bout against the San Antonio Spurs, where only eight were active.
Now, granted, context is certainly key when looking at this specific situation, as this matchup served as their third game in four nights and was played in a third different city during this stretch, while guys like J-Dub, Ajay Mitchell, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had recently been sidelined with what have turned out to be long-standing injuries.
With this in mind, hopefully those investigating will find nothing short of legitimate reasoning behind their short-staffed rotation against the Spurs.
Nevertheless, regardless of how this all unfolds, Williams' on-court discomfort being described as nothing more than a mere brush-up with another player and the pain subsiding soon after should be seen as great news for the Thunder.