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WNBA Draft grades: Fever earn A for picking Clark, Sky receive C+ even with Angel Reese

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WNBA Draft grades: Fever earn A for picking Clark, Sky receive C+ even with Angel Reese

The most anticipated WNBA Draft in recent memory has come and gone. Once again, it was a franchise-changing day for the Indiana Fever, who drafted Caitlin Clark. Meanwhile, several teams made meaningful investments in their futures while others fine-tuned in their pursuit of a championship in the near term.

Let’s take a look at how well each team accomplished its goals in the 2024 WNBA Draft. The grades are a little bit higher across the board than last year, but this was a better pool of players. I’m allowing for some optimism.

Nyadiew Puoch (12), Isabel Borlase (20), Matilde Villa (32)

The Dream made three international selections, all of whom are 19 years old, and none of whom project to play in the WNBA during the 2024 season. As such, it’s hard to say if Atlanta addressed any of its needs because by the time these players come over, the roster could look dramatically different. Big picture, Puoch and Borlase were rated as first-round talents by the general managers The Athletic surveyed, so to pick up both with only one first-round pick is good value. But the Dream have a chance to get better right now with Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray rating among the better perimeter duos in the league, and they punted on a chance for immediate improvement, even if this trio of selections makes an impact down the line.


Kamilla Cardoso (3), Angel Reese (7), Brynna Maxwell (13)

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On the one hand, I love the players Chicago selected. Cardoso and Reese could be a dominant frontcourt for the foreseeable future, and they complement each other well. Maxwell is an outstanding shooter who made 42.7 percent of her 3-pointers and 91 percent of her foul shots during her five-year college career. She was ninth in the country in points per play (1.17) this past season.

But I can’t lose sight of what the Sky abandoned to move up one spot in the draft. They surrendered a second-round pick in 2025, which will be a deep draft because all of the seniors using their pandemic bonus years have to come out. They gave up on Sika Kone, a promising young player. And, they allowed Minnesota to swap first-round picks with them in 2026 — if the rebuild doesn’t go quickly for Chicago, the front office could come to regret that decision. The Sky did receive the rights to Nikolina Milić, but she’s already 30 years old and isn’t playing this season.

The haul Chicago acquired doesn’t quite make up for the fact that the Sky surrendered valuable assets to get here.


Connecticut Sun: B-

Leïla Lacan (10), Taiyanna Jackson (19), Helena Pueyo (22), Abbey Hsu (34)

The Sun’s frontcourt is pretty well spoken for with Alyssa Thomas, Bri Jones and DeWanna Bonner all returning. What the Sun needed was reinforcements in the backcourt, and they took some swings to make that happen. Lacan is a high-ceiling prospect, only 19 and excelling in France. However, the domestic league schedule makes it challenging for French players to come to the WNBA, so it’s unclear when Lacan will debut for the Sun.

However, Connecticut found value later in the draft. Pueyo is a dogged defender who can shoot the ball at a decent clip from 3-point range. Hsu’s size at 5-11 is helpful for the position, and she’s a pretty solid first step. Taiyanna Jackson seems a little duplicative of Olivia Nelson-Ododa, but she was an outstanding defensive center at Kansas and should at least provide some training camp competition.

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Jacy Sheldon (5), Carla Leite (9), Ashley Owusu (33)

Can you tell the Dallas Wings needed guards? Nevertheless, even while honing in on a positional need, the Wings still managed to select players with significant upside. Sheldon is a 3-and-D archetype who excels in transition, making her a natural fit for Dallas, which likes to play up-tempo. Leite turns 20 on Tuesday, and she already shows the ability to run a pro offense while being an individual scoring threat. Even Ashley Owusu has promise. She was the best shooting guard in the country as a sophomore, so the talent is there if she can find a proper workout regimen and regain her motor.


Indiana Fever: A

Caitlin Clark (1), Celeste Taylor (15), Leilani Correa (27)

Of course, anyone in Indiana’s position would have taken Caitlin Clark, but who cares? The Fever made themselves an attractive destination for Clark, providing her with the motivation to declare from the draft, and did the obvious thing once she declared. If you pick a generational talent, the draft grade is going to be an A.

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Beyond Clark, I like the selections of Taylor and Correa. Both are big guards, fitting with Lin Dunn’s philosophy (she drafted Grace Berger last year, after all). Correa can shoot a little, while also getting to the rim frequently, and Taylor is a nasty defender who can make things difficult on Clark in training camp and in practice. Indiana has its tentpoles in place — all of the decisions now should be to optimize Clark and Aliyah Boston. Taylor is someone who can play next to Clark and make her life easier, and Correa is a good flier to take at this point in the draft.

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Las Vegas Aces: B

Dyaisha Fair (16), Kate Martin (18), Elizabeth Kitley (24), Angel Jackson (36)

The Fair pick got most of the hype, considering she is the third-leading scorer in Division I women’s basketball history. However, I simply don’t see the need for another bucket-getter on a team that already has A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray. The Aces need role players who can fill in the gaps around their core four. That’s why their pick of Kate Martin intrigues me. Martin might not be a WNBA-level athlete, so this selection could be moot, but Martin absolutely knows how to amplify star talent. She hits open shots, she cuts hard, she sets good screens, and she plays bigger than she is on defense. Martin might be more skilled than Kierstan Bell, so why couldn’t she take that spot on the Aces’ roster?

Furthermore, getting Kitley at the end of the second round is a heist. Although she can’t play this season as she recovers from an ACL injury, perhaps it’s better for Kitley to be a stash. In that scenario, she can wait out Candace Parker’s eventual retirement to fill that frontcourt hole in the roster. There are concerns about Kitley’s footspeed, but she’s a three-time ACC Player of the Year who consistently figures out a way to produce. If she can expand her range — and this is where being on the same roster as Megan Gustafson could really pay dividends — Kitley has a future in this league.

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Los Angeles Sparks: A

Cameron Brink (2), Rickea Jackson (4), McKenzie Forbes (28)

This was a home run of a draft for Los Angeles. The Sparks got the national defensive player of the year in Brink, someone whose defensive metrics alone made her a lottery pick. But Brink is also an outstanding playmaker and interior scorer with a burgeoning perimeter game once L.A. lets her stretch her wings. At No. 4, the Sparks selected the second-best scorer in the draft, someone who can score from anywhere on the court and demonstrated the capacity to get her shot off against Team USA in a November exhibition. Brink and Jackson are an enticing forward combination that can scale up if L.A. goes small but also can play with another big, whether that’s Dearica Hamby or someone else the Sparks acquire down the line.

Selecting Forbes in the third round is just good business. USC coach Lindsey Gottlieb has been touting Forbes as a first-round pick all year. Even if she didn’t rate that highly for WNBA teams, she still is a prolific shot-maker who reads the floor well, takes care of the ball and will bring the growing Trojans fan base with her to Crypto.com Arena, only two miles away from where USC plays its home games.


Minnesota Lynx: A

Alissa Pili (8), Kiki Jefferson (31)

It almost doesn’t matter who the Lynx took at No. 8 — the fruits of the trade they made with Chicago would have earned them a high grade regardless. However, Minnesota ended up with Pili, one of the most unguardable players in the country. Maybe we don’t know what position Pili will defend, but opponents will have to defend her, and that doesn’t seem pleasant. I feel a lot better about Pili’s WNBA future knowing she is under the tutelage of a seasoned and successful head coach like Cheryl Reeve.

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Marquesha Davis (11), Esmery Martinez (17), Jessika Carter (23), Kaitlyn Davis (35)

Realistically, the Liberty have at most one available roster spot, and the only need they have is a defensive-minded guard. I would have preferred Nika Mühl in this spot because she is a phenomenal defender and also could have learned the point guard position from Courtney Vandersloot as a succession plan. Davis is a better athlete and perhaps a more versatile defender — her steal percentage is astounding — but Mühl is a better shooter and playmaker and covers the point of attack just as well. With a team like New York that is contending right away, I’d prefer a more well-rounded player.

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Martinez and Carter are interesting training camp players, both have a physicality that the Liberty didn’t always play with in 2023. New York announced that Kaitlyn Davis will be competing for the 2025 roster, so she appears to be a domestic draft-and-stash, much like fellow USC product Okako Adika, who New York drafted in 2023.


Charisma Osborne (25), Jaz Shelley (29)

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The Mercury have roster spots for the taking, and they addressed that by selecting two fifth-year seniors who could realistically contribute as rookies. Osborne was among the 15 invitees to the draft; she has the pedigree of a higher pick and should be ready to defend at the very least. Shelley also gets after it defensively and plays with moxie; she’s always willing to take big shots and shoots a high volume of 3s. Phoenix is always in need of more perimeter defense so long as Diana Taurasi occupies one of the other guard spots, and neither of these rookies will be intimidated by the personalities on the Mercury roster.


Nika Mühl (14), Mackenzie Holmes (26)

Seattle is another team that needs bench contributors, and Mühl might already be the fourth-best guard on the roster. She can chip in as a backup point guard and play next to the other Storm ballhandlers, just as she did with KK Arnold and Paige Bueckers at UConn. After playing in three Final Fours, Mühl shouldn’t be fazed by the pressure of being on a team that wants to win right now. There’s a strong tradition of Huskies excelling in Seattle, so perhaps Mühl is the latest in that line. Holmes already announced that she will undergo surgery to address some lingering injuries and will not play in 2024.


Aaliyah Edwards (6), Kaylynne Truong (21), Nastja Claessens (30)

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There isn’t really anything wrong with the Mystics’ draft. They took two players who rate well statistically in Edwards and Truong, but I had hoped a franchise at this point in team-building would have taken a more aggressive approach. Washington has Shakira Austin as a focal point, but it needs another star, and I’m not sure any of the players it selected have the upside of an all-WNBA player. Admittedly, that’s a high bar. But it’s also what’s required of the best teams in the league.

(Photos of Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Rickea Jackson: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)

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Dispatch audio reveals what was heard inside Josh Jacobs’ home before alleged domestic violence arrest

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Dispatch audio reveals what was heard inside Josh Jacobs’ home before alleged domestic violence arrest

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Released dispatch audio has added some context to the alleged domestic violence incident involving Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs, one of which came from inside his Wisconsin residence.

The audio, obtained by TMJ 4, reveals a dispatcher speaking with a police officer about the “yelling and screaming” she could hear on an open line within Jacobs’ home.

“Things being thrown, open line,” the dispatcher tells the officer. “…Possibly a male and female.”

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Josh Jacobs of the Green Bay Packers jogs off the field after a 26-34 loss to the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo., on Dec. 14, 2025. (Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)

Then, a second call’s audio was added, as a dispatcher describes a neighbor calling about what they can hear from Jacobs’ home.

“The neighbor is calling now, saying that her neighbor was assaulted,” dispatch called out.

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When authorities arrived at Jacobs’ residence, he wasn’t there. He left the scene in his Mercedes G-Wagon, though police tracked his license plate readers. A call went out to stop the vehicle if it was seen on the road.

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Jacobs was arrested on Tuesday following an investigation by the Hobart-Lawrence Police Department, and he was booked on five domestic abuse-related charges.

The department said in the statement that Jacobs was booked into Brown County Jail on charges of domestic abuse battery, domestic abuse criminal damage to property, domestic abuse disorderly conduct, strangulation and suffocation, and intimidation of a victim. According to Brown County Jail records, strangulation and suffocation is a felony, while the other four are misdemeanors.

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs runs the ball and stiff arms Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trikweze Bridges during the second half of an NFL game in Arlington, Texas, on Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)

The investigation remains active and ongoing, the statement added.

Jacobs’ attorneys, David Z. Chesnoff and Clarence Duchac, say the 28-year-old denies all charges.

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“Josh vehemently denies the allegations, and this matter is in the early stages of investigation with important evidence that has not yet been made public,” the attorneys’ statement read.

“We ask for fairness and restraint while the judicial process takes its course.”

The NFL was made aware of the situation and has contacted the Packers. Green Bay also told The Athletic that it wouldn’t make comment due to the ongoing investigation on the matter.

Josh Jacobs of the Green Bay Packers stands for the National Anthem before an NFL wild card playoff game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago, Ill., on Jan. 10, 2026. (Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images)

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Jacobs finished his second season with the Packers, tallying 929 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on 1,234 carries in 2025. In 2024, he racked up 1,329 yards on 301 attempts with 15 touchdowns to lead the way for the Packers’ ground game in his inaugural season up north.

Jacobs, who spent five seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders prior to his time in Green Bay, has led the league in the past with rushing yards. His 2022 campaign saw 1,653 yards and 12 touchdowns across a full 17-game slate.

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Alyssa and Gisele Thompson joined NWSL in high school. Their younger sister might be better

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Alyssa and Gisele Thompson joined NWSL in high school. Their younger sister might be better

Few players are driven to club soccer practice by a national team player. But then few players have two sisters who play for the U.S. women’s team.

Also Zoe Thompson is just 14, so you can’t expect her to drive herself.

But here’s the thing that truly sets Zoe Thompson apart. Although eldest sister Alyssa, 21, has already played in a World Cup and middle sister Gisele made 38 NWSL appearances and played four times for the national team before her 20th birthday, Zoe may actually be the best of the three.

“She’s better technically,” said her father Mario Thompson, who coached all three.

“I think she’s the combination between Alyssa and Gisele,” said Carlos Marroquin, owner of the pre-professional women’s team that gave Alyssa and Gisele their start.

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So maybe there should be a line of coaches, teammates and family members waiting to drive her to practice or to her debut with Marroquin’s team, the Santa Clarita Blue Heat, on Saturday evening at The Master’s University.

The Santa Clarita Blue Heat coach Leonardo Neveleff, center, talks to his team before a practice at Valencia High. Zoe Thompson makes her debut with the team Saturday.

The team, which competes in USL W league, has long been a summer proving ground for elite college players and aspiring pros with alumni that includes Venezuela’s Deyna Castellanos, once a finalist for FIFA’s world player of the year award; World Cup veterans Savannah DeMelo and Ashley Sanchez; former Chelsea and Atlético Madrid star Ana Borges of Portugal; and Natalia Kuikka, a five-time Finnish player of the year.

This year’s roster includes more than two dozen Division I college players, meaning Zoe Thompson will be playing with and against women much older than her.

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Did we mention she’s still in middle school?

“She’s always having to get out of her comfort zone, no matter what,” said Mario Thompson, whose job as Zoe’s father is to both nurture and protect his daughter’s talent.

Zoe has followed a different path than her sisters. Alyssa and Gisele were born less than 13 months apart and grew up playing together, practicing together and pushing each other. Zoe, born seven years later, grew up watching them, imitating them and wanting to be them.

But she had to do the work alone.

“It’s a unique dynamic where Alyssa and Gisele had each other,” their father said. “It wasn’t just Alyssa by herself. She always had a partner.”

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Zoe, however, observed a lot by watching.

“I feel like their mistakes helped me,” she said. “But at the same time, there are some mistakes that I’ve made that they haven’t. I’m learning differently, but I’m more learning from them.”

Zoe Thompson hugs her father Mario Thompson after practice.

Zoe Thompson hugs her father Mario Thompson after practice at Valencia High.

Still, this is uncharted territory. No family has ever had a trio of siblings play for the women’s national team, and the pressure of having to match the success her sisters have had will be inescapable, if unfair, for Zoe.

It’s a level of pressure that has the potential to be crushing.

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“She kind of has this expectation that’s put upon her already that ‘oh, she’s going to be like her sister,’” Gisele said. “But it’s her own life.”

And Mario Thompson, an elementary school principal who has been intimately involved in all his daughters’ careers, is having to negotiate all this on the fly.

“Everyone sees the glam and the glitz of Alyssa and Giselle, but people don’t really understand it’s a lot of pressure,” he said of the sisters, who will both be heading to Brazil with the national team next week. “They see all the great stuff, but it’s also their job.”

Mario Thompson faced some of the same issues with Alyssa, the second-youngest U.S. woman to play in a World Cup, so he limited her media interviews and tried to let her be a teenager — albeit it an exceptionally talented one. Zoe faces the additional burden of having do all that while following in her sisters’ footsteps.

“I’m very mindful and aware of that,” he said. “She’s already in the spotlight without having to be in the spotlight. It’s that pressure. I want her to love the sport, love this journey. That’s kind of how I raised all three of them.”

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Zoe Thompson during a practice session in preparation for her debut with the Santa Clarita Blue Heat.

Zoe Thompson during a practice session in preparation for her debut with the Santa Clarita Blue Heat soccer team.

For her part Zoe, mature well beyond her tender age, dismisses the hype with a shrug.

“There are going to be comparisons,” she said. “But we’re such different people that I think it’s unfair. At the same time, they can have those comparisons, they can have those opinions, but I’m not them. So it’s not going to be any different, how I play.”

Plus, having two accomplished sisters has its advantages. In the spring Zoe trained with the youth teams at Chelsea, where Alyssa now plays, and this summer she says she’ll train with Angel City, Gisele’s team. But the drawback of being a (much) younger sister is Alyssa and Gisele had each other to lean on growing up. Zoe has had to go it alone and that, she said, has made her stronger.

“Mentally, it is harder. But seeing my sisters and where they are, it’s kind of a motivation for me,” said Zoe, who has already been called in three times by the U-14 national team. “They were kind of at the same place I am. And it’s just very motivating to see them where they are. That’s just kind of where I want to be.”

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If there’s been one constant in the girls’ soccer careers it’s been their dad, who has been intimately involved in with all three, drilling them in the backyard of their Studio City home or walking them down the street to a park, where they shared the lumpy grass with softball players and unleashed dogs.

They were often, but not always, willing participants since the family didn’t have a TV when the girls were growing up.

Zoe Thompson drives the ball past a teammate during a training session.

Zoe Thompson controls the ball during a training session in preparation for her debut with the Santa Clarita Blue Heat soccer team.

And while the hours and hours of practice certainly honed the sisters’ skills, their parents can’t explain where the girls got their immense physical gifts. Mario played football and basketball and ran track at Occidental College with modest success while his wife, Karen, an occupational therapist, played basketball and ran cross-country in high school, hardly the pedigree that could be expected to produce three world-class soccer players.

Perhaps part of the answer lies in their unique DNA, a mix of Mario’s Black and Filipino background and Karen’s Italian and Peruvian roots.

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“It was never the plan, ‘Hey, let’s have some soccer players’,” Mario said.

But once the sisters decided that was their plan, the parents had to adjust. The girls had rare talent, Mario Thompson quickly realized, and it had to be developed. So Alyssa and Gisele began playing with an elite boys’ team while they were still in high school and passed up scholarships to Stanford to sign lucrative contracts with Angel City while their were teenagers.

Zoe has chosen another way, playing with Tudela FC, an all-girls team that practices near her home, and with the Blue Heat, where she’ll be facing stronger, more mature players for the first time. Mario Thompson hopes those aren’t the only differences, although he said the road his youngest daughter takes will ultimately be up to her.

“My hope is she goes through college and just goes a different pathway, different journey,” Mario Thompson said. “It’s a roller-coaster ride and so for [Zoe], I think she sees that roller-coaster ride and I don’t know if it’s a rush to let me get to that. She wants to eventually be a pro, but I don’t think it’s ‘I need to get there as soon as possible.’”

“It’s Zoe, what do you want?” he added. “It’s not like you have to be here, you have to do this. It’s none of that. It’s about, ‘Hey, Zoe, this is your journey.’ We want you to enjoy it, have fun with it, be happy with it.”

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She appears to be accomplishing all three of those goals. She’s also both confident and comfortable in her abilities and believes she’s already ahead of both her sisters despite the weight of expectation.

Zoe Thompson with head coach Leonardo Neveleff at the conclusion of a training session.

Zoe Thompson with head coach Leonardo Neveleff at the conclusion of a training session in preparation for her debut with the Santa Clarita Blue Heat soccer team. Thompson, 14, is the younger sister of U.S. women’s soccer players Gisele and Alyssa Thompson.

But she’s also well aware of the pitfalls ahead, having seen Alyssa and Gisele occasionally stumble into them.

“Yeah, it is a lot of pressure but I feel like we just had different paths,” she said. “They didn’t really know they were going to do soccer. They didn’t know that was their sport. But I feel like that path was set for me.

“It was just like I grew faster. I kind of took the understanding of what they were doing, and then I did it a little faster.”

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There are other differences as well. Gisele is a defender and Alyssa a forward, but Zoe plays in the midfield. And while it was sometimes difficult to get anything more than a giggle from Alyssa in an interview even after she turned pro, Zoe already gives complete, thoughtful answers to most questions.

Zoe’s game is also different; while Alyssa and Gisele are both exceptionally fast, Zoe relies more on her skill.

“Zoe’s more technical than her sisters at this stage,” her father said. “She’s better on the ball, she has a better understanding of the game. A lot of their game was because of speed. Hers is more thinking, hers is more of the ball on her feet.

“Technically, she’s better and understands the game at this age.”

Gisele, the sister who chauffeurs Zoe to practice in Santa Clarita, agrees. But, she adds, Zoe’s greatest strength may actually be her desire.

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“She just has so many great qualities that me and Alyssa don’t have,” she said. “At her age, she wants it way more than we did. She loves soccer with a passion. Me and Alyssa didn’t love it as much as she does.”

And if that passion translates to performance, Zoe will someday join her sisters on the national team. By then she may even be in the driver’s seat.

Team owner Carlos Marroquin talks to Zoe Thompson after a training session.

Santa Clarita Blue Heat team owner Carlos Marroquin talks to Zoe Thompson after a training session at Valencia High.

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Thunder lose star Jalen Williams for Western Conference Finals Game 7 as hamstring injury lingers

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Thunder lose star Jalen Williams for Western Conference Finals Game 7 as hamstring injury lingers

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The Oklahoma City Thunder will be shorthanded in Saturday’s pivotal Game 7, as one of Oklahoma’s key contributors has been sidelined with an injury.

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OKC guard Jalen Williams has been ruled out for Game 7 with a hamstring issue, ESPN reported on Friday. Williams appeared to aggravate his left hamstring during the Thunder’s 122-113 victory in Game 2. He missed the next three games before returning for Game 6, but logged just 10 minutes off the bench in Oklahoma City’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday, which forced a winner-take-all Game 7.

“He’s obviously not 100%,” Mark Daigneault, the head coach of the Thunder, said.

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams watches during the fourth quarter against the San Antonio Spurs in Game One of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on May 18, 2026. (Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

Daigneault applauded Williams for fighting through the injury and doing everything he could to help Oklahoma City.

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“He didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know what to expect. So, it was a matter of getting him out there in kind of an insulated role and see what he can bring to the team. He’s an All-Star player, he’s an All-NBA player. He hasn’t done a full return to play [protocol] like he would if this was the regular season, and yet, he just wants to do whatever he can to try to contribute whatever he can to the team.”

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“I give him a lot of credit to get himself out there. He did the best he could. He’s certainly not the reason we lost.”

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams reacts to a shot by forward Luguentz Dort in the third quarter against the San Antonio Spurs during game one of the Western Conference finals for the 2026 NBA playoffs at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on May 18, 2026. (Alonzo Adams/Imagn Images)

Williams did not talk to reporters after Thursday’s game in San Antonio.

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Williams underwent surgery last offseason to repair a wrist injury but still played a key role in the Thunder’s run to the NBA Finals last season. He appeared in just 33 regular-season games before this year’s playoffs.

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams drives into the paint during the first quarter of Game Two of the NBA Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on May 20, 2026. (Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

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The winner of Saturday’s Game 7 will advance to the NBA Finals to face the New York Knicks. New York snapped a nearly three-decade Finals drought by sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals.

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