Jalen Williams Biography: Net Worth, Salary, Family and Career Stats

The Guard-Forward for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Jalen Williams, has been getting the love of the franchise fans due to the contributions that he is making on the court. It has been only three years since he joined the OKC squad, but his commitment to growth is even loved by the coaches also. If it were not for his work ethic and grit to make his playing style better, he would not be playing in the NBA with such a high pick right now. That's why he continues to maintain the same level of hard work for his career in pro basketball.

Jalen Williams Early Life

Jalen Devonn Williams was born on April 14, 2001, in Denver, Colorado to defense parents Nicole and Ronald Williams. He was born in Denver, Colorado, but due to the nature of his parents' job, he shifted to Arizona at just seven years of age. Even his parents used to play basketball at the Academy, so basketball as a sport was not an unknown name for the family. Although Williams could not make his mark during his high school career, he made sure that he didn't go unnoticed during his collegiate career at Santa Clara University. He increased his average from 7.7 points to 18 points in just three years of college basketball.

Jalen Williams Biography

Jalen Williams Career

Jalen Williams' basketball style was never about being an offensive powerhouse. Rather, he focused on areas that he needed to improve in his game. As a freshman player in the Santa Clara Broncos team, he knew that he could disturb the plays with his steal ability. Later on, he also improved his scoring abilities to mark his place in the NBA world. Even at the NBA, his work ethic is all about performing better than yesterday.

Jalen Williams High School Career

He attended Perry High School in Gilbert, Arizona, to test his basketball abilities and learn new fundamentals. During his senior season, he tallied 25 points per game. Williams earned another major accolade during his junior season when he dished out 23.3 points, 3.0 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per game to win the 2017-18 Region Offensive Player of the Year. Then, Jalen decided to join Santa Clara University to play collegiate basketball.

Jalen Williams College Career

During his freshman year at Santa Clara, Jalen could only garner 7.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game. However, he improved his stats during the Sophomore season, tallying 10.8 points, 3.8 boards, and 2.4 assists per game. That's when he got his first All-WCC selection. Later on, Williams continued to stand out on the court with his growth, averaging 18 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists.

It showed the strive for improvement that Williams had in himself to earn the second All-WCC selection. Notably, he scored 1,000 career points as a junior after averaging 12.6 points on 46.9% shooting for his career. After his junior season at Santa Clara, Jalen declared for the NBA Draft.

Jalen Williams Professional Career

The Oklahoma City Thunder chose Jalen Williams as the 12th overall pick from the 2022 NBA Draft class. After his debut, Williams got the chance to start when Jeremiah Robinson-Earl suffered a right ankle sprain, and the former took the chance with both ends. He scored the bucket whenever he got the opportunity to seize the starting spot on the roster. He won multiple Rookie of the Month honors and joined Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook to have three or more games with at least 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in a season as a rookie.

Recently, on March 2 this year, Williams dished out 41 points along with six rebounds and six assists against the San Antonio Spurs. Here are the numbers that Williams has put up so far in the league, according to ESPN archives:

Jalen Williams Awards and Achievements

Jalen Williams' performance might not be an outburst performance since his debut, but it is nothing short of an exception for a franchise like the Oklahoma City Thunder. It has been dormant for a long time, and they have been showing their competition for the last couple of years. For his performance, Williams was named to the 2023 Rising Stars Challenge since he tallied 12.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.7 steals in 46 games. He was then named to the All-Rookie First team, becoming the franchise's second player to get this honor.

Two months ago, Williams was named as the reserve for the NBA All-Star team on January 30, 2025. Here are all the accolades that Jalen Williams holds in basketball:

Jalen Williams Record

Jalen Williams has not been able to make a statistical impact in the NBA while playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Guard-forward might not seem strong on the paper but he has been the X factor of the Thunder squad in the Western Conference. He is recording a career-high 21.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.3 assists with a 47.8% field goal percentage. Here are the total career records of Jalen Williams in terms of the fundamental stats of basketball in the league.

Jalen Williams Net Worth and Salary

The net worth of Jalen Williams is estimated to be $5 million in the current season, according to Fan Arch. During his first year, he got the selection to the NBA All-Rookie First Team and then also made an All-Star appearance. So, the combination of the skillset value, along with salaries and endorsements, can add up to the the expected net worth of Jalen Williams. Currently, Jalen is under the 4-year, $20,256,917 contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder that he signed on July 1, 2022.

On October 21, 2023, the franchise adopted the $4.78 million option for Williams in the 2024-25 season. Therefore, he will earn the same this season. Coming to the next season in 2025-26, Jalen is expected to earn $6.58 million according to the player option that Oklahoma City Thunder exercised on October 23, 2024. Jalen has earned the following salary amounts per year according to Spotrac data in NBA:

Along with the NBA's annual salary, Jalen Williams has a shoe endorsement deal with Adidas. He also has endorsement deals with VKTRY Insoles, Buffalo Wild Wings, and PlayStation NBA 2K Event.

Jalen Williams Family

Jalen Williams' family is one of the most distinguished families in the NBA. His mother, Nicole, and father, Ronald Williams, served in the U.S. Air Force and are now veterans of the force. That's why it was not any basketball tournament in college or a party where they met. Rather, they got to meet each other for the first time at the Air Force Academy while playing basketball. It was a love at first sight moment to which Jalen Williams' parents committed for life. Since both of them were in the force, discipline and hard work came naturally to Jalen as a kid.

OKC coach Mark Daigneault said to Andscape about Williams' upbringing, “He’s from a military family and a lot of discipline in the home.” Even Jalen is quite aware of the values that he got from his parents. He once revealed, “My mother is a lot more outspoken and confident than me. With both my parents, the biggest thing was being comfortable in who I am. Both of my parents were telling me that I was special. It was the same thing with my brother and my sister. It’s something that they kind of instilled in us. When your parents give you that confidence early, it’s hard to kind of shake it.”

Jalen Williams Shoes

Jalen Williams struck a deal with Adidas as soon as he entered the league. That year, the sportswear and apparel inducted 12 rookies from the 2022 NBA Draft class for official signing. It included the number 11th and number 12th pick, Ousmane Dieng and Jalen Williams. Recently, Sole Retriever reported that Jalen will soon get a custom version of the Adidas Harden Vol. 9 shoe. According to the reports, the custom edition for Williams is set to come out in June 2025. Till now, Jalen has always used to just promote the brand and its apparel on various occasions, but Williams will get a custom edition of his own this year.

Jalen Williams Jersey

Jalen Williams wears the number 8 jersey number while playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA. The number might seem random, but it holds importance for the 23-year-old forward. Before the NBA and college career, Jalen used to wear the jersey number 10 because it was Kobe Bryant's Team USA number. However, he changed it to jersey number 8 in college because he felt it was a lucky number that had carried him through his basketball journey. However, if he ever signs up with the Los Angeles Lakers in the upcoming years, he won't be able to wear it as it is retired as a tribute to legend Kobe Bryant.