Jalen Williams on T.J. McConnell's 2025 NBA Finals against Thunder: 'So annoying'
A month after they beat the Indiana Pacers in a 2025 NBA Finals Game 7, Williams discussed what it was like to deal with McConnell's mini-takeovers. The underdog squad was able to push the heavy title favorite to the distance because role players like him had randomly explosive performances.
McConnell averaged 12 points, 4.3 assists and 3.6 rebounds in the NBA Finals. He also had an eye-popping 2.1 steals. That was boosted with five steals in Game 3 and four steals in Game 6. Both were Indiana wins. Most of those steals came on simple inbound passes where the Thunder panicked and couldn't execute elementary basketball moves.
That's how the Pacers finished a win shy of their first NBA championship. They had a deep squad where nobody was a bona fide 25-plus point scorer. It was truly a group effort where somebody like Pascal Siakam or Obi Toppin could go off.
Williams talked about McConnell's surprise series against the Thunder. He joined PJ Washington in the club of role players who stepped up against them in a playoff series. The 24-year-old reflected on their championship run in his "The Young Man and The Three" podcast episode.
'Dude's so annoying,' Williams joked. '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.'
When Tyrese Haliburton suffered a torn Achilles early on in the Thunder's Game 7 win, McConnell stepped up as their top scorer. Sadly, that's not the ideal situation you want to find yourself in at that stage. While the 33-year-old was a huge plus for the Pacers, relying on him to create buckets isn't a sustainable full-game plan.
'We were thinking the same thing,' Williams said. '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.'
Easy to look back at McConnell's superb series now, but at the time, each turnover he caused had Thunder fans pulling hair out of their head. That's what the playoffs are about. Sometimes, a random role player goes off and ends your season. For the Thunder, they were able to avoid being on the wrong side of an all-time upset.
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USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Venus Williams wins again at 45 years old in magical night for tennis
The match was over, the smile was beaming and here was Venus Williams – the seven-time Grand Slam champion, the 45-year-old icon of tennis, the soon-to-be bride – telling jokes about health insurance. 'I had to come back because they informed me earlier this year I'm on COBRA,' she said, giggling through her on-court interview with Rennae Stubbs after a what-did-we-just-watch 6-3, 6-4 victory over world No. 35 Peyton Stearns at the Mubadala Citi DC Open. 'So I was like, 'I gotta get my benefits!' You guys know what it's like. I'm always at the doctor so I need this insurance.' It's a great line. And the funniest part about it is, when Williams entered this tournament as a wild card having not played on the WTA Tour since March 2024 and without winning an official match in 709 days, there was no clear reason why she would play at all. Williams admits that she holds her cards close to the vest on purpose. She never officially retired. She never closed the door. In her last few years on tour, the results weren't good. Injuries piled up, as they tend to do for athletes who approach their 40s. So was entering this tournament out of nowhere a one-off or a comeback? She wouldn't say. Who cares. What she produced was magical, even if it's just for one memorable night. 'There were so many times I wanted to coast and kind of chill,' Williams said. 'Do you know how hard it is to play tennis? You don't know how much work goes into this. It's 9-to-5 except you're running the whole time and then lifting weights and then you're repeating it the next day.' But her support team wanted her to play at least one more time. Her fiancé, the Danish-Italian actor Andrea Preti, had never seen her play. And my goodness did she deliver something special, the kind of thing only tennis can provide. Williams is not the oldest women's player to win a match on the WTA Tour. That would be Martina Navratilova winning a first-round match at Wimbledon in 2004. But given how little she had played recently and who she was up against Tuesday – a very good 23-year-old who wasn't even born when Williams won her fourth major at the 2001 US Open – it's arguably the most stunning result of the year in any sport. How did she do it? She served incredibly well with nine aces, executed an incredibly-aggressive game plan that made Stearns uncomfortable and baited her into too many unforced errors. Is it sustainable? We'll see. Williams plays the No. 5 seed, Magdalena Frech, on Thursday. The more important question is whether this win will encourage Williams to keep going and perhaps even request a wild card to the US Open, which would very likely be granted given her stature in the history of the sport. Had Williams been defeated soundly Tuesday, it might have been controversial to give a 45-year-old a pass into the US Open field. But now, it kind of seems like a no-brainer if that's what she wants to do. 'I'm just here for now, and who knows?' she said in her pre-tournament press conference. 'Maybe there's more. At the moment, I'm focused just on this. I haven't played in a year. There is no doubt I can play tennis, but obviously coming back to play matches, it takes time to get in the swing of things. I definitely feel I'll play well. I'm still the same player. I'm a big hitter. I hit big. This is my brand.' Everyone got a good laugh out of that, including Williams. But when she got out on the court, it turned out to be true. She hit big enough to knock the No. 35 player in the world off the court. She's probably not going to contend for another Grand Slam, but if you can do that, you belong. None of us are truly timeless, but Williams made a heck of an argument in the other direction Tuesday. At 45, she looked as fit and powerful as she had in years. Whether it's the beginning of something or one last hurrah before the end, the fact she was willing to put herself out there at all was a gift to tennis and fans who have watched her play pro tournaments for 31 years. Even if it's just for the health insurance, Williams' presence can still elevate a tennis tournament. And even if Tuesday was the last match she ever wins, delivering that moment was something everybody who cares about the sport should be thankful they got to witness.
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
Venus Williams, 45, notches first singles win in nearly two years at DC Open
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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
DC Open delight for tour veteran Venus Williams
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