Player grades for the 3 Thunder players who participated in the 2024 Rising Stars challenge.
INDIANAPOLIS — Crossing the ball between his legs, Jalen Williams pulled up for the deep 3-pointer to clinch the Rising Stars win for Jalen Rose’s squad.
The game-clinching basket capped off an impressive two-game outing for Williams and Chet Holmgren. All three 2024 Rising Stars challenge matchups featured an Oklahoma City Thunder player.
“We were up a good amount of points to where if I missed, it didn’t matter,” Williams said on his game-winner. “… I fake ran a stack play so they can go under and I can shoot a three. I don’t know if the team knows that’s what I had intended but that’s what I was gonna do.”
Jalen Rose’s squad advanced to the finals following a tight 40-35 win over Tamika Catchings’ team in the semifinals. Williams had two points, three assists and three rebounds. Holmgren had five points on 2-of-4 shooting, three rebounds and one assist.
Meanwhile, Pau Gasol’s squad suffered a 41-36 loss in the semifinals to Detlef Schrempf’s roster. It was an upset as Schrempf’s roster was G League players and two-way players. Cason Wallace contributed with eight points on 3-of-8 shooting and one assist.
Rose came out victorious in the finals over Schrempf, 26-13. Williams had five points on 2-of-3 shooting, three assists and two rebounds. He shot 1-of-2 from 3. Holmgren had two points, two rebounds, one block and one steal.
It’s a great opportunity to come out here and kind of just mingle with the guys,” Williams said on the Rising Stars. “It’s a unique platform, you play with people you probably wouldn’t play with. You’re playing in front of teammates you wouldn’t play with. It’s a good time to kind of play free.
“Win or lose, it doesn’t really matter. Shows what guys can do and kind of puts guys on the map as well.”
Holmgren added: “It’s a great opportunity to have fun and also put out a good product for the fans. Throughout the season, you don’t get a chance to talk to a lot of these guys. There were definitely some dudes who I thought, I don’t rock with this dude. He’s kind of weird. He be mean mugging. Then you get in the locker room with them, and they’re super cool.”
Let’s look at the Rising Stars challenge grades for the Thunder’s three players.
