Oklahoma City Thunder center Jaylin Williams shared a funny anecdote that he and head coach Mark Daigneault still laugh about today. Before the Thunder secured a win on Daigneault’s birthday on Sunday, Williams revealed he didn’t know who Oklahoma City’s head coach was throughout his pre-draft workout in 2022.
As Williams started warming up for his workout, he noticed Daigneault but had no idea he was looking at the Thunder’s head coach.
“So, I had no idea who Mark was. When I was going through pre-draft, I was just being nice to everybody in the building. So, I was trying to be cool with everybody, asking everybody how they’re doing,” Williams said. “We were fixing to start our pre-draft workout, and there’s just this guy sitting in shorts on the far seats over there. And I’m shooting at the middle basket, and he’s just sitting there looking at me the whole time.”
Williams eventually started a conversation with the man, who was staring at him in shorts.
“So, I start talking to him, and then we sit next to each other, we start having a conversation. The whole time, I didn’t know who he was,” Williams added. “And then, after I got drafted here, I realized he was the head coach. Me and him we’ll talk about it. We laugh about it now, but at the time, I had no idea who he was.”
The Thunder drafted Williams with the 34th overall pick in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft. After spending time with the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s G League affiliate, Jaylin Williams took on a role for the Thunder in his rookie campaign, averaging 5.9 points and 4.9 rebounds, and started in 36 of 49 games.
This season, Williams took rookie Branden Carlson under his wing as a mentor.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Mark Daigneault’s birthday surprise
All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander revealed the team’s birthday surprise for Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault. The team showered Daigneault by having its rookies sing Happy Birthday, while Gilgeous-Alexander planned to congratulate his coach personally after the win.
Gilgeous-Alexander spoke to ESPN’s Jorge Sedano in a postgame interview, per NBA’s X, formerly Twitter.
“[Let] the rookies sing, and then I’m gonna go in the back, give him a noogie, and pour some water on his head,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
The Thunder will look to defeat the Timberwolves on Monday, the second night of a back-to-back at the Paycom Center.
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