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Thunder's Jalen Williams Honors Kobe Bryant by Recreating Iconic Photo

Thunder’s Jalen Williams Honors Kobe Bryant by Recreating Iconic Photo originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

It has been a quiet offseason thus far for the Oklahoma City Thunder, which was to be expected.

Of course, the Thunder were the most dominant team in the NBA last season and they were able to cap off their historic season with a championship as they defeated the Indiana Pacers in seven games in the NBA Finals.

So far this summer, the Thunder have elected to not make any moves outside of the draft to upgrade their roster but instead signed their star trio of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren to max contract extensions.

May 26, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8), forward Chet Holmgren (7) and guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) talk to the media after defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves in game four of the western conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Target Center. © Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

This keeps their core in Oklahoma City for the foreseeable future as they try to win multiple championships over the next handful of seasons.

Of course, Williams played a key role in their success last season as he became a first-time All-Star and also made an All-NBA and All-Defensive team for the first time in his career.

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams.Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Currently, the star forward is recovering from offseason wrist surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right wrist that he played through during the Thunder’s championship run.

On Thursday, Williams posted a photo on X that honored Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant by recreating one of his most iconic pictures.

In the picture, Williams is standing at the free thrown line with his right wrist in a brace as he is shooting with his left hand while wearing pajamas.

This was a recreation of Bryant’s same photo in 1999 when he did the same while recovering from a broken right wrist.

Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant (24) and Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry (30).Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Of course, Bryant’s photo from 1999 is an iconic one and one that showed the work the Hall of Fame guard put in during his career and it was a nice tribute by Williams to recreate it during his recovery from wrist surgery.

For Williams, he is expected to be good to go by the start of next season as he and the Thunder look to win back-to-back championships.

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 25, 2025, where it first appeared.

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