Jalen Williams had a true coming-out party in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Game 5 win over the Indiana Pacers. The victory gives OKC a 3-2 series lead in the 2025 NBA Finals, with only one game away from winning the championship. Williams’ tantalizing performance caught the eyes of many, leading to plenty of opinions, such as comparisons to all-time greats.
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Williams blossomed into a star this season and continues to prove that his performance in the regular season wasn’t a fluke. He finished with a playoff career-high of 40 points along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists on 56% shooting.
Analyzing the game, NBA veteran and ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins couldn’t help but see flashes of a six-time NBA champion in Williams’ performance. “It was one of the greatest Game 5 performances that I’ve ever seen,” Perkins said on SportsCenter with SVP. “I thought of ’91 [Scottie Pippen].”
Interestingly, fellow analyst Stephen A. Smith vehemently disagreed.
The Pippin performance Perkins is referring to materialized in the 1991 NBA finals during a game between the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers in the 1991 NBA Finals. In a closeout game, Pippen put forth 32 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 steals. His incredible stat line propelled the Bulls to their first NBA championship.
ESPN’s First Take crew discussed Williams’ performance in correlation to Perkins’ comments. Marcus Morris shared some of Perkins’ sentiment regarding Williams’ evident star power but sidestepped the comparative analysis.
“[Jalen Williams] growing throughout the playoffs is where stars are born,” he declared. His brother, Markeiff, harped a similar tune. “In the Finals, he has taken it to another level,” Markeiff added. “He’s at that level right now, that’s telling you I’m not coming, I’m here.”
But while the twins tiptoed around the elephant in the room, Stephen A. tackled it head-on.
“I don’t know about the Scottie Pippen comparisons,” Smith said. His opinion doesn’t have anything to do with diminishing Williams’ performance. Rather, he doesn’t view the playstyles of the two to be quite comparable.
“I have never seen a game with Michael Jordan on the court where Scottie Pippen was a number one option. That happened last night with Jalen Williams,” he proclaimed.
Williams, for the most part, was the primary source of offense for the Thunder. OKC head coach Mark Daigneault ran the offense through Williams to preserve Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the fourth quarter.
That plan shifted since Williams had it going, leading to the first time All-NBA member waving off SGA on multiple possessions. OKC rode the hot hand, and it led them to take a commanding 3-2 lead in this series.
Subsequently, the Thunder wouldn’t be in this position without Williams’ stellar play. And now, they will need him to replicate this performance in Game 6 as the team looks to take the 2025 NBA championship home.
