“When we watch games, those moments for me, yes, Ron and I are very competitive, but those moments for me are me saying, ‘Oh my gosh, Jalen, the way your lip curled every time you shoot.’…. Those are literally my moments that I’m in,” said Nicole Williams once when discussing her son, Jalen. Basketball has been a big part of the Williams family, and the fact that Nicole and Ron had two of their children, Jalen and Cody, makes it all the better. It is safe to say that Jalen Williams would not have made it to the top league if it weren’t for the guidance from his parents. As it turned out, they gave him more than that. After all, being members of the Air Force, there was no way Jalen wasn’t going to receive some lessons on discipline while growing up.

During Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers, ESPN did a coverage of what to anticipate. As the conversation shifted to Jalen Williams, an analyst recalled a throwback story about the OKC star. He revealed that, when Williams was once at school, he didn’t make his bed. He forgot to do it, or intentionally did not choose to do it, we don’t know. No matter what, Nicole soon came to the school, took him out from there, and reportedly “brought him home to make the bed, and then brought him back to school.” A second analyst revealed the story made sense, since he revealed growing up near Luke Air Force Base, and both he and Jalen practiced under the same coach at the military facility.

Nicole Williams was an active member of the United States Air Force for over 12 years. As reported by People, amongst her best memories included playing basketball on the base with her husband, Ron, and both their sons. Nicole recalled how “We’d go to Luke Air Force Base in Arizona with the boys, and we’d play on their courts and make a weekend day out of it. Basketball is pretty big on base, pickup games are a big deal.” After a day on the court, the Williams family would reportedly go bowling or go to he commissary. With both her sons being “very competitive” people, Nicole needed to provide an outlet for them through which they could put that competitive spirit to the test.

Ron Williams, who was in the active military for 24 years, also did his part to raise his boys to a certain level. As highlighted by Athlon Sports reporter Cholo Martin Magsino, Ron knew the fundamentals of being a guard. Therefore, he helped his eldest in that regard, as he recalled, “I always told him it was a blessing to start out small instead of being the biggest kid on the court”.

Today, Jalen Williams stands out as a major offensive force with OKC. Someone who Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can depend on to be a secondary playmaker for the Thunder. We can be sure that Nicole is enjoying this since, as she recalled once, one has to make such moments count.

“You’re going to blink and the next thing you know they’re older, doing whatever they’re doing, whether it’s basketball or not. Just stay in the moment and enjoy the moment, because there’s a lot of things that are missed,” said Nicole.

Seeing her sons come so far would have made Nicole nothing short of proud. Therefore, no one can blame her when she chose to shed some tears over one of her son’s recent feats.

Jalen Williams recalled his mother’s “teary-eyed” reaction after his All-Star selection

Back in February, Jalen Williams was named to his first-ever All-Star game after having spent around 3 years in the league. A few days after being bestowed the honor, he spoke to the media after a practice session. Williams recalled that the moment, as a whole, was pretty surreal for him. He didn’t quite fully absorb the news. That is, until his mother’s reaction changed things.

“It’s starting to a little bit. My mom got a little teary-eyed yesterday. So, that made it [sink in] a little more,” said Williams. “I think practice made it a little more real. It’s starting to hit me now that we’re not playing.”

Jalen and Cody Williams are another of those brotherly duos, like Stephen Curry and Seth Curry, and Jason and Travis Kelce, who found their way to the same sports league, but play for rival teams. With her two sons in different cities, Nicole reportedly adopted Donna Kelce’s method of adjusting to the dilemma of who to support. She would attend both of her sons’ games, and Nicole would even don a split-jersey that would have both the Jazz and Thunder represented. If she went so far as to support them, it was no surprise that Nicole would have that sort of a reaction.

If Nicole was willing to get teary-eyed over an All-Star selection, who knows how she will react if the Oklahoma City Thunder end up winning the Larry O’Brien trophy! Well, only time will answer that question.