For the first time since the 2018-19 season, the OKC Thunder will be sending two players to the NBA All-Star Game.
Last Thursday, it was officially announced that third-year wing Jalen Williams will be joining teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out in San Fransisco for the illustrious exhibition as a first-year reserve.
While the vibe around the team is certainly joyous and filled with excitement for J-Dub, as Oklahoma City is well known to be a close group, in one of his first public statements made about the selection since the news was dropped SGA discussed the idea of potentially squaring off against his Thunder running mate Sunday in a post-practice presser.
While he acknowledged that it would "be fun" if they ended up on opposing teams as a result of the reworked NBA All-Star format, the MVP frontrunner did issue a hilarious statement on what Williams' fate would be if the duo faced one another during the contest.
Thunder centerpiece says he'd shut down Jalen Williams in All-Star Game
"He's not going to score on me. That I won't let happen. No other problem but that's for sure," Gilgeous-Alexander said.
A matchup between these two teammates would certainly be exciting for onlookers to bear witness to, as they are not only highly skilled and profound scoring weapons but, also, rank in as two of the best defensive talents the game currently has to offer.
Out of all starters in the NBA who have logged 30 or more games played on the season so far, Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams rank first and second in defensive rating (103.1 and 104.1, respectively) while simultaneously ranking in the top 10 in the league in steals per game (2.0 and 1.8, respectively).
For this year's festivities, TNT’s Inside the NBA commentators Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith will serve as honorary team general managers and will take part in a live draft on Thursday, February 6 before the network’s 7:30 p.m. (ET) matchup between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers.
There, it will be determined whether the Thunder studs will be friends or foes during the February 16 All-Star Game.
Both Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams find themselves amid career-best campaigns through roughly four months of action, with the former posting sensational all-around averages of 32.4 points, 6.0 assists, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks on 52.8 percent shooting from deep while the latter is posting 21.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5.2 assists on 47.5 percent shooting.
Together, they've spearheaded the charge for this top-seeded Thunder team (38-9) and have the club churning toward their second consecutive playoff berth.