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USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Jalen Williams on T.J. McConnell's 2025 NBA Finals against Thunder: 'So annoying'
It's easy to laugh back at now, but T.J. McConnell had Oklahoma City Thunder shaking in their boots whenever they needed an inbound pass or when he dribbled in circles to his favorite short-range jumpers. 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.
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Jalen Williams reflects on Round 2 series win over Nuggets, how Thunder grew from it
Ask anybody who followed the Oklahoma City Thunder's playoff journey to an NBA championship. The moment the fork met the road was against the Denver Nuggets. The Round 2 playoff series was anything but its official name. As the series went the distance, most came away thinking the title winner will likely come from that series. That wasn't just outside noise, either. Jalen Williams felt the same way. He discussed the grueling seven-game series in his "The Young Man and The Three" podcast episode, which was recently published. Nearly two months removed from a blowout Game 7 win, the 24-year-old said OKC shattered through its ceiling with that series victory. "I'm not gonna say we thought, 'Oh, we can win it if we get past Denver,'" Williams said. "It's just more like let's get over the hurdle that we were challenged with last year to show that we got better." There were several moments throughout the playoff series that frightened Thunder fans. Entering as the heavy favorite, the Nuggets served the first punch when Aaron Gordon handed OKC its first playoff loss with a Game 1 game-winner that stunned the crowd. While not as dramatic, the Nuggets delivered again with their Game 3 overtime win. Suddenly, they had a couple of series leads through three games. Up 1-0 and 2-1. All the pressure was on the Thunder not to suffer a catastrophic collapse. A lot of bad memories from last year's Round 2 exit against the Dallas Mavericks resurfaced. "I think last year, that would have devastated us," Williams said. "Once you've been through the playoffs one time, it forces you to be a different person. There's so many emotional swings and ups and downs of the playoffs that it didn't really phase us too much... It sucked, but you can't feel sorry for yourself and lock back in." And the Thunder did that. In a tight back-and-forth Game 5, Williams' catch-and-shoot 3-pointer gave the Thunder the go-ahead lead in the final moments. In a championship run, that was probably the 24-year-old's best singular moment from the run. He screamed at his injured wrist in celebration as OKC held a 3-2 series lead. It was a big-time moment that saw the Thunder mature from a young, up-and-coming squad to the team to beat and eventual NBA champion. They'll now enter next season as every other team's top date. That happens when you have one of the most dominating seasons in league history.
USA Today
11-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Nets receive thank you message from Nuggets' Cam Johnson after trade
The Brooklyn Nets made one of the more surprising moves in the 2025 NBA offseason when they traded forward Cam Johnson to the Denver Nuggets in exchange of forward Michael Porter Jr. Brooklyn traded Johnson away almost three years after coming to the team via the Kevin Durant trade from the Phoenix Suns during the 2022-23 season, but he doesn't have any hard feelings. "First of all, man, just I love the people in that building, my teammates, coaching staff, front office, training staff, strength staff," Johnson said during his recent appearance on "The Young Man and The Three" podcast. Johnson has spoken about his excitement with going to Denver to compete for a championship alongside Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, but he seemed to come away from the deal with good memories of Brooklyn. "The best part about playing in Brooklyn for me was just showing up to work every day and seeing those guys and ladies that we had in the building," Johnson continued. "I enjoyed it because of that and I had faith in what we were building because of that. I really think (head coach) Jordi's (Fernandez) a fantastic coach. Personnel constantly shifting. We had trades, we had injuries. He always maintained such a good approach to the team and he was always able to motivate us to play hard." The Nets traded Johnson to the Nuggets in the early days of free-agency for Porter and a Denver 2032 first-round pick that could prove to be a valuable trade asset someday. Johnson was coming off the best season of his career after averaging 18.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 47.5% from the field and 39.0% from three-point land. Porter, who has also spoken about his anticipation of a bigger role in Brooklyn, will be trying to replace the production that Johnson provided, if not expand on it. While trades can strain a relationship between a player and the team trading him away, it seems that Johnson and the Nets parted on amicable terms and the former North Carolina Tar Heel gets to play with one of the best players in the league in Jokic as a result.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Nets' Cam Johnson reacts to Knicks firing HC Tom Thibodeau
Brooklyn Nets forward Cam Johnson has been on vacation for awhile with the Nets not making the postseason in any capacity following a 26-56 record in the 2024-25 regular-season. While Johnson is no doubt working on his game to be a better player for Brooklyn next season, he is also lending his voice on important NBA topics, including the New York Knicks firing head coach Tom Thibodeau. "It's kind of crazy to say this, but the initial thought now is not really shock," Johnson said during his recent appearance on "The Young Man and The Three" when asked by host Tommy Alter about the Knicks firing Thibodeau. ESPN's Shams Charania reported on Tuesday that the Knicks fired Thibodeau despite leading the team to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000. Advertisement "I guess he kind of adds to complete that every coach of the year, from '18 to '23 has kind of found degrees of success," Johnson continued. "Kind of in the midst of it, being let go, but you kind of got to look at it from a team-building perspective. That team is a really good roster, and they're really close. So, I guess maybe ownership, front-office is just looking at it like, What can get us over the hump? I guess that's the best solution they had." As Johnson alluded to in his reaction, Thibodeau continues a line of coaches that have been fired recently despite either having good track records in their career or with their team having a good record. Since the beginning of the 2024-25 campaign, Thibodeau joins Mike Brown, Taylor Jenkins, Mike Malone, and Mike Budenholzer as the coaches that were shown the door. While Thibodeau had his flaws when it came to distributing minutes amongst his rotation and adapting to adjustments made by opposing teams in real-time, he still took the Knicks farther than they had been in a quarter-century. Johnson, who is paying attention to the NBA outside of his involvement with the Nets, understands that Thibodeau may have needed to go, but also sees that the Knicks may be close enough that a coaching change could be all that is needed for New York to get to the Finals eventually. This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets' Cam Johnson reacts to Knicks firing HC Tom Thibodeau
USA Today
06-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Nets' Cam Johnson reacts to Knicks firing HC Tom Thibodeau
Nets' Cam Johnson reacts to Knicks firing HC Tom Thibodeau Brooklyn Nets forward Cam Johnson has been on vacation for awhile with the Nets not making the postseason in any capacity following a 26-56 record in the 2024-25 regular-season. While Johnson is no doubt working on his game to be a better player for Brooklyn next season, he is also lending his voice on important NBA topics, including the New York Knicks firing head coach Tom Thibodeau. "It's kind of crazy to say this, but the initial thought now is not really shock," Johnson said during his recent appearance on "The Young Man and The Three" when asked by host Tommy Alter about the Knicks firing Thibodeau. ESPN's Shams Charania reported on Tuesday that the Knicks fired Thibodeau despite leading the team to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000. "I guess he kind of adds to complete that every coach of the year, from '18 to '23 has kind of found degrees of success," Johnson continued. "Kind of in the midst of it, being let go, but you kind of got to look at it from a team-building perspective. That team is a really good roster, and they're really close. So, I guess maybe ownership, front-office is just looking at it like, What can get us over the hump? I guess that's the best solution they had." As Johnson alluded to in his reaction, Thibodeau continues a line of coaches that have been fired recently despite either having good track records in their career or with their team having a good record. Since the beginning of the 2024-25 campaign, Thibodeau joins Mike Brown, Taylor Jenkins, Mike Malone, and Mike Budenholzer as the coaches that were shown the door. While Thibodeau had his flaws when it came to distributing minutes amongst his rotation and adapting to adjustments made by opposing teams in real-time, he still took the Knicks farther than they had been in a quarter-century. Johnson, who is paying attention to the NBA outside of his involvement with the Nets, understands that Thibodeau may have needed to go, but also sees that the Knicks may be close enough that a coaching change could be all that is needed for New York to get to the Finals eventually.
