Jalen & Jaylin: How the Thunder rookies' teammates are handling their name
Sep. 27—The Oklahoma City Thunder might have a little bit of a naming problem on its hands.
In what will likely be the most popular trivia tidbit for opposing broadcasts this season, the Thunder's 2022 rookie class includes two players with the same name, though they're spelled slightly differently — Jalen Williams and Jaylin Williams.
The former is a Santa Clara guard that was drafted 12th overall, while the latter is an Arkansas forward that went 34th overall.
Two days after being drafted during their introductory press conference, the two players, who both wore matching polo shirts, hoped to clear up any confusion.
"I go by J-Dub and that's J-Will," clarified Jalen Williams.
Though that may help a little, it sounded like it might take some time for their teammates to get used to their nicknames during the Thunder's media day Monday.
For some players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Darius Bazley, the solution the rookies provided was sufficient enough.
"One is J-Dub, one is J-Will," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "Jalen Williams from Santa Clara, I usually just call him 'Dub'."
For others, however, it's still a work in progress to differentiate their rookie teammates.
"I definitely have to figure that out," Derrick Favors said. "They're going to have to get nicknames or something. But definitely something we're going to have to figure out."
Aaron Wiggins mentioned his unorthodox solution of labeling Jalen as "Santa Clara" and Jaylin by his full name under his phone's contact to separate the two. Though he joked that fellow Thunder player Kenrich Williams sharing the same last name only adds to the confusion.
"When I first met them, at the time everybody was kind of figuring out how we'd be able to distinctly know which guy we were talking about," said Wiggins. "It's very cool to have both of them, and they embrace that they share the same name. It's actually three Williamses on this team now. It's kind of funny, we took a picture of them together earlier."
The Williams duo was even approached with alternative solutions to their naming problem, but neither were interested in changing course. Thunder shooting guard Tre Mann even suggested changing the nicknames to "Little J" and "Big J."
"I'm not going to lie, it was kind of tough at first because I was trying to call both of them J-Will," Mann said. "... Now I know both of their names, it's J-Dub and J-Will. It's easy now."
While it's been lighthearted fun for the team when it comes to telling Jalen and Jaylin apart, it could become an issue during game time. NBA games invite hostile and loud atmospheres that can make it nearly for players and coaches to hear each other. With NBA arenas usually rocking and loud, how will the team communicate with the right rookie?
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said it'll come down to non-verbal communication.
"We'll figure it out," said Daigneault. "I'm big on eye contact when I call them in the game. There (are) some guys I turn and look at them and they know what that means, so it might turn into that."
With both players set to earn playing time this season, it appears their teammates will have plenty of time to figure out how to separate the two rookies.
Clemente Almanza is a sports reporter intern for The Transcript. You can reach him via email at calmanza@normantranscript.com or on Twitter @CAlmanza1007
