Long after his days with the Boston Celtics, Kendrick Perkins has emerged as one of the biggest talking heads in the NBA. As the finals rage on, the former champion uttered a bold take regarding one of the league’s rising stars.
All season, one of the biggest talking points around the OKC Thunder was if the roster had a player capable of being a reliable running mate next to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Now on the game’s biggest stage, Jalen Williams has put any notion of him not being able to handle such a role to rest.
Williams had a slow start to the finals but has emerged in a big way as of late. He’s put together a string of impressive performances, including a 40-point outburst in the Thunder’s Game 5 win on Monday.
Following his stellar play, Perkins is one of many people to give Williams his flowers. While on “NBA Today” Tuesday, he compared the All-Star forward to Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen.
“That boy stood on business last night. He been standing on business all series long,” Perkins said of Williams. “That gave me Scottie Pippen vibes. 1991 vibes.”
Williams put together a career year for the Thunder in the regular season, landing All-Star, All-NBA, and All-Defense honors. Now, he’s cementing himself as a star in the NBA. In his first finals appearance, he is averaging 25.8 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 4.2 APG.
With the Thunder looking to remain a contender for years to come, they needed someone to emerge alongside SGA. Based on what we’ve seen in this series, Williams looks ready to lead the charge for the Thunder with the reigning MVP for the foreseeable future. As a pair of versatile two-way perimeter players, OKC finds themselves with strong building blocks moving forward.
