Jalen Williams Recalls ‘Annoying’ But ’Special’ Pacers Rival During NBA Finals

Nowadays, the Thunder can simply look back and enjoy when reminiscing about this years NBA Finals against the Pacers, but the truth is, last month they were struggling to get ahead in the series as some of their rivals were truly being a pain in the neck. 

One of these players was T.J. McConnell, who was one of Indiana’s most versatile athletes during their playoff run. A month after OKC finally beat them in Game 7, Jalen Williams was asked about how if felt to deal with his opponent’s confident dribbling and random explosiveness.

“Dude’s so annoying,” the young Oklahoma City star admitted. “Special player, though. What’s cool is, looking back at it, and I was even able to share a couple of moments with him during the game, he was really cool to me when I got drafted.”

T.J. averaged 12 points, 4.3 assists and 3.6 rebounds during the final series of this 2024-25 campaign, plus an impressive 2.1 steals. Back in Game 3 and Game 6, he posted 5 and 4 steals, respectively. Both of those matches ended in a Pacers victory, which were also credited to players like Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton.

Nevertheless, Haliburton suffered a torn Achilles early during Game 7, so McConnell had no choice put to step up for his squad. Even though he was one of Indiana’s most reliable star during the series, the team depended on him too much for offensive responsibilities, which aren’t his expertise.

“We were thinking the same thing,” Williams said about the 33-year-old rival. “He ran off a run, and we were going into the huddle like, ‘Bro.’ But yeah, he was annoying during that series, and annoying is obviously a good thing, just on the other end of that.”

Turnover and turnover, the Thunder fans were desperate with how good T.J.’s defending was during the NBA Finals. However, OKC found strength in their offensive talents, as both Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams took care of business, dropping 29 and 20 points, respectively in Game 7.