If there was a sports sidekick hall of fame, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams would be polishing off his plaque and getting ready to hang it up.
While teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander basks in the MVP spotlight, Williams operates as his trusty sidekick, slashing to the rim on one end and hounding ball handlers on the other. His play has the Thunder one win away from the franchise’s first championship since moving to Oklahoma City.
Where does his Finals performance rank all-time among sidekicks? Here’s a look at five of the best.
Note: For the purpose of this article, players who did not lead their team in scoring in the Finals were considered. Each player is listed only once with their best season included.
Jerry West | Los Angeles Lakers | 1962-63
West could be on this list five times, but we will go with his best season. He was in his third season for the Lakers when he and Elgin Baylor combined to average an eye-popping 63.3 points per game in the 1963 Finals. L.A. would fall to Boston in six games, losing the four games by a combined 16 points.
West played a whopping 44 minutes per game and scored 29.5 points, including a 42-point outburst in a Game 3 win. Add in 6.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and a 49 percent field goal percentage and it’s the most Herculean effort ever from a sidekick.
