If Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the leader of the OKC’s championship win, then Jalen Williams was truly second in command. In the Thunder’s championship run, he averaged 21.4 points, 4.8 assists, and 1.4 steals while shooting over 44.9% from the field. On the back of this performance, the 24-year-old also received his rookie max extension that could hit $287 million. All is good so far, right? But for J-Dub, that’s not exactly how the off-season is going, despite his effort to pay homage to the Lakers icon Kobe Bryant.

After the championship win, the guard revealed a right wrist injury that forced him to recreate his shot right before the postseason started. In fact, the pain management included 28-29 injections throughout the Thunder’s championship run. So recently, Williams recreated a photo similar to Kobe’s 1999 one. In the picture, Williams is standing at the free throw line with his right wrist in a brace as he is shooting with his left hand while wearing pajamas. Since Jalen has spoken highly about the 5x NBA champion being a role model, recreating the picture was not out of place.

But some fans thought otherwise. Similar to how Jayson Tatum received backlash for mimicking Bryant’s championship trophy photo, Jalen Williams also got some hate as some netizens called him corny. So did the hate affect the Thunder star? A fan asked J-Dub about it. “Jdub how do you feel about people saying you are corny for that Kobe pic (I’m not one of those people).” This comment was under the latest Instagram post of the 24-year-old. But Williams had a cool response about dealing with criticism.

“@spendybend tbh the same people calling me corny couldn’t hold my water in real life, prolly would ask for a selfie if we was face to face.” This is exactly how he spoke about managing hate; he’s learned to block out the noise. In a league where praise can turn to criticism overnight, Williams made it clear: he’s focused on what’s real.

“They’re gonna love you one day, they’re gonna hate you the next day. And that cycle is gonna continue so that they can get people to watch,” said Williams on the ‘Young Man & the Three’ podcast.

Why Jalen Williams idolizes Kobe Bryant

Before joining the NBA, Jalen Williams wore the number 24 during his high school and college years. Now, for the Thunder, he sports the number 8, continuing to honor the late Lakers legend. In Game 5 of the finals, where he rocked the Pacers, he had another Kobe tribute. The 24-year-old was wearing a pair of purple Adidas EQT Elevations—yes, the same pair Kobe Bryant wore during his rookie season when he won the Slam Dunk Contest in 1997.

Game 5 will undoubtedly go down as one of the biggest performances in Jalen Williams’ career as he dropped 40 points to push the Thunder to victory. In fact, he passed his idol Kobe as well as Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo to set a record. He needed only 35 minutes to reach that 40-point mark, the fewest for a 40-point game in NBA Finals history. It took Kobe and Giannis 38 minutes to do so. Even during the championship parade, the nod to the icon was visible.

J-Dub walked into the Thunder’s parade donning a shirt emblazoned with Kobe’s image. While talking about the Lakers legend, the Thunder guard said, “I’m a big Kobe fan, yeah… Just like the mentality.” Not just idolizing but also practicing the Mamba mentality. “Obviously I don’t think I play anything like Kobe, I kind of threw that out when I was younger. But the more I get in these positions, the more I understand like the way that he was and I think that’s what makes it fun to be in these situations.”

As Jalen Williams put it, all of this is his way of connecting with the 5x NBA champion. Which is why he has not been paying much attention to the ‘corny’ tag about recreating the picture. With already a championship in his resume and a huge long-term contract, the All-Star guard doesn’t need social media to validate his thoughts.