KJ Williams
No. 33 – Oklahoma City Blue
PositionPower forward
LeagueNBA G League
Personal information
Born (1999-09-03) September 3, 1999
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High school
College
NBA draft2023: undrafted
Playing career2023–present
Career history
2023–presentOklahoma City Blue
Career highlights and awards

Kamarian "KJ" Williams (born September 3, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Murray State Racers and the LSU Tigers.

High school career

Williams began his high school career at East Side High School in Cleveland, Mississippi. As a junior, he helped the Trojans finish 22–12 and advance to the 3A State Basketball Championship game. Following his junior season, Williams entered Cleveland Central High School after it was formed by the merger of East Side and Cleveland High School.[1] As a senior, he posted a triple-double of 21 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks against Gentry High School and had a 27 point and 28 rebound game against West Tallahatchie High School. Williams averaged 21 points and 11 rebounds per game and helped the Wolves to a 22–9 record and a berth in the second round of the 5A State Basketball Playoffs.[2] In February 2018, Williams committed to playing college basketball for Murray State, choosing the Racers over offers from Western Kentucky and Southeastern Louisiana.[3]

College career

As a freshman, Williams averaged 7.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.[1] He set the Murray State single-season field goal percentage record during his freshman season, connecting on 69 percent of his field goal attempts.[4] Following the season, he focused on improving his conditioning and adding to his mid-range game.[5] Williams averaged 12.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game as a sophomore, and was named to the First Team All-Ohio Valley Conference (OVC).[4] As a junior, Williams averaged 15.6 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.[6] He repeated as a First Team All-OVC selection.[7] On November 9, 2021, Williams scored 32 points in a 109–77 win against Cumberland.[8] On February 10, 2022, he scored a career-high 39 points in a 73–62 win against Tennessee State.[9] Williams had 30 points on 12-for-19 shooting and five rebounds on February 24, in a 76–43 win over Belmont to claim the OVC regular season title.[10]

At the close of the 2021–22 season, Williams was named first-team All-OVC for the third consecutive year, as well as OVC Player of the Year.[11] As a senior, he averaged 18 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game.

On March 24, 2022, Williams declared for the 2022 NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility and entered the transfer portal.[12] On May 5, 2022, he transferred to LSU for his final season of eligibility, following coach Matt McMahon from Murray State.[13] Williams scored 16 points in a 77–56 loss to Tennessee on January 21, 2023, and passed the 2,000-point mark.[14]

Professional career

Oklahoma City Blue (2023–present)

After going undrafted in the 2023 NBA draft, Williams joined the Oklahoma City Thunder for the 2023 NBA Summer League[15] and on October 18, 2023, he signed with them.[16] However, he was waived the next day[17] and on October 31, he joined the Oklahoma City Blue.[18]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

College

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2018–19 Murray State 322218.2.698.200.5264.7.5.6.67.6
2019–20 Murray State 32823.4.544.360.6707.31.01.1.712.7
2020–21 Murray State 262628.7.567.413.6678.51.01.0.615.6
2021–22 Murray State 343429.0.538.327.6998.4.71.4.618.0
Career 1249024.7.568.355.6647.2.81.0.613.4

Personal life

Williams is the son of Amie Williams, who played basketball at East Side High School, leading the team to the 1999 4A State Title game before playing collegiately at Jackson State, and LaMarcus Smith[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Collier, Andy (May 20, 2020). "Imposing Power". The Bolivar Bullet. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Mike Davis & KJ Williams Join Racer Basketball". Murray State Racers. April 11, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  3. ↑ Tucker, Garrett (February 9, 2018). "MURRAY STATE LANDS PLEDGE FROM K.J. WILLIAMS". HoopSeen. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  4. 1 2 Hurst, Jason (November 4, 2020). "Racers Picked Co-Favorite In OVC Men's Basketball Poll". WSIL-TV. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  5. ↑ Elfrink, Simon (November 11, 2019). "Racers continue to build strong post presence". The Murray State News. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  6. ↑ Welser, Joel (September 4, 2021). "#67 MURRAY STATE MEN'S BASKETBALL 2021-2022 PREVIEW". College Sports Madness. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Williams and Brown named NABC All-District 18". Murray Ledger & Times. March 19, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  8. ↑ "KJ Williams Pours In 32 points – Racers Defeat Cumberland On Opening Night At The Bank". Murray State Racers. November 9, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Williams scores 39 points, No. 23 Murray State beats Tenn St". ESPN. Associated Press. February 10, 2022. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  10. ↑ "No. 19 Murray St tops Belmont for OVC regular-season title". ESPN. Associated Press. February 24, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Murray State's Williams and McMahon, Morehead State's Broome and APSU's Hutchins-Everett Earn 2021-22 OVC Men's Basketball Top Honors". OVCSports.com (Press release). Ohio Valley Conference. March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  12. ↑ Taylor, Cody (March 24, 2022). "Murray State forward KJ Williams to test NBA pre-draft process". Rookie Wire. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  13. ↑ "OVC POY KJ Williams To Join Coach McMahon At LSU". LSU Tigers. May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  14. ↑ "LSU's KJ Williams Reaches 2,000 Career Points As Tigers Fall to No. 9 Tennessee". LSU Tigers. January 21, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  15. ↑ "2023 NBA 2K24 SUMMER LEAGUE ROSTER". NBA.com. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  16. ↑ Adams, Luke (October 18, 2023). "Thunder Sign Hunter Maldonado, K.J. Williams". HoopsRumors.com. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  17. ↑ Hill, Arthur (October 20, 2023). "Thunder Sign, Waive Caleb McConnell, Adam Flagler". HoopsRumors.com. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  18. ↑ OKC BLUE [@okcblue] (October 31, 2023). "Let's work 🫡 2023-24 #OKCBlue Training Camp Roster🔵" (Tweet). Retrieved November 21, 2023 – via Twitter.
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