More Bad News For Jalen Williams, Who Is On The Brink Of Ineligibility For Postseason Awards
Nov 25, 2025
Five months ago, Jalen Williams was on top of the world as he celebrated his first NBA championship with the Oklahoma City Thunder. J-Dub is still in a good position right now, but his offseason wrist surgery has now exacted a heavy toll.
This past Sunday, Williams missed a Thunder game for the 18th time this season as he sat out OKC’s 122–95 blowout win over the Portland Trail Blazers. As of now, only 64 games are currently scheduled on the Thunder’s regular-season schedule. Here’s the problem: Since the 2023–24 season, the NBA has instituted a 65-game minimum for players to become eligible for year-end awards, such as MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and All-NBA selections.
Is Williams now ineligible for those accolades? Not exactly.
While NBA fans have been buzzing about the 24-year-old forward being ruled out after his 18th DNP, Thunder beat reporter Clemente Almanza pointed out that there’s still a slim chance for Williams to become eligible for those awards. And it all depends on his team’s performance.
According to Almanza, the Thunder can give Williams a shot at year-end honors if they make it to the finals of the Emirates NBA Cup. If Williams competes in that championship game and every other regular-season outing left on OKC’s calendar, he will supposedly maintain his eligibility.
It’s not just personal glory that’s at stake here. At the end of the 2025–26 season, an All-NBA selection would trigger a salary bump in the contract extension that Williams signed in the offseason. Getting named to the All-NBA First Team will get J-Dub as much as a $47 million increase.
Williams, then, will have to pull off a Herculean effort to do the following: play at a consistently high level, be available for 64 regular-season games (logging at least 20 minutes in each contest), and participate in the NBA Cup Finals (assuming that the Thunder will make it there).
On Wednesday, OKC will take on the Minnesota Timberwolves in NBA Cup action. With so much on the line, will J-Dub suit up for the Thunder in this game? That remains to be seen.
