A team that is the youngest No. 1 seed in NBA playoff history still relies on Kenrich Williams’ leadership.

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OKLAHOMA CITY — The pandemic season of 2020-21 was rough on NBA players. The year after the Orlando bubble, when the league played a full schedule, but no OKC fans were allowed in games and testing was a constant part of life.

Thunder players, for instance, would arrive at the practice facility in the morning, 8:30 a.m. or so, and wait in their cars until a medical team came outside to administer a COVID test. Then came more waiting, until the results were known. If negative, the players would be granted access to Thunder headquarters. And the same for all Thunder employees.

Those kinds of barriers were constant in NBA life. It made for frequent frustrations.

Mark Daigneault was in his first year as the Thunder head coach, and after the season, he opened up a little on the challenges. But he said the Thunder players handled it all with aplomb.

I challenged Daigneault. How could they be so accommodating, so insulated from tension or dissension, so willing to stick together through all the troubles, particularly since the Thunder went into tank mode halfway through the season and finished 22-50?

Because, Daigneault said, if anyone got out of line, Kenrich Williams would grab them by the collar and straighten them out quick.

Everytime Williams has entered a game since, either to play small-ball center or shoot 3-pointers or just play garbage time, I’ve thought of Daigneault’s salute to the forward who was a side note in the four-team, Jrue Holiday/Steven Adams trade involving the Thunder, Pelicans, Nuggets and Bucks on Nov. 23, 2020.

Three and a half years later, Williams remains a Thunder, the third-longest-tenured player on the roster, behind only 2020 playoff veterans Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz Dort. And a team that is the youngest No. 1 seed in NBA playoff history still relies on Williams’ leadership.

Did Williams ever grab a collar? No. He never had to, apparently. His leadership was working well enough that no one needed such discipline.

“Not necessarily like literally,” Williams said. “But that’s kind of my job with the team, as far as keeping everybody humble. Making sure everybody’s kind of in line and doing the right things when no one’s watching.”

No one saw that coming when Williams joined the Thunder. He wasn’t that kind of leader in New Orleans. Williams said he was just trying to find his way with the Pelicans, as a 23-year-old undrafted rookie out of Texas Christian, where he didn’t make a lot of waves in the Big 12.

Williams, who grew up in Waco, Texas, was just a good college player who got an NBA chance and decided to make the most of it.

“It was a little different, man,” Williams said of his time with the Pelicans, the franchise eliminated by the Thunder on Monday night in a first-round playoff series. “A little different, because it was my first couple of years in the league. It was hard to figure it out, to be honest with you.”

The way Williams sees it, some players figure out their NBA role in a year or two.

“But it took me about three years to figure out how to be successful in the league and how to have a role in the league,” Williams said.

Williams was blessed with the gift of discernment. Some players never figure it out. They think they’re being played out of position, or aren’t prized enough. They think they could be stars, if only given a chance.

But Williams was intent on playing as long as he could. And he knew he wasn’t going to be an All-Star. Or maybe not even a starter. But he’s the kind of player any team can use. Versatile, mature, wise, hard worker.

“Just the type of player I need to be to play the game,” Williams said. “The type of player I need to be to have a long career.

“I was 24 (six weeks into his NBA career), 25 when I came into the league. And everybody as a rookie wants to prove theirself as a player, who they want to be in this league. Sometimes, you just gotta figure it out.”

Williams figured it out in Oklahoma City. He joined a team in total rebuild. A franchise that had just traded Chris Paul and Danilo Gallinari, Dennis Schroder and Adams. A franchise intent on building from the foundation.

Williams grew up just four hours south of Oklahoma City but had limited experience here.

“My first thoughts were, I was excited for a new journey,” Williams said. “I thought that was a good opportunity for me to come prove myself as a player and a leader.”

Al Horford was on that initial Williams Thunder team. So was George Hill. Both were long-time veterans. But Hill played just 14 games with OKC and eventually was traded; Horford was shut down after playing 28 games. 

That Thunder featured 22-year-old Shai Gilgeous-Alexander; Darius Bazley, 20; Luguentz Dort, 21; Theo Maledon, 19; and Aleksej Pokusevski, 19. The Thunder had a leadership void, which Williams filled.

“In Year 3,” Williams said, referring to his first OKC season, “I figured out, OK, my best chance to have a long career in the league was being a solid, good role player.

“I was vocal in New Orleans my first two years. But like I said, when you’re playing and guys get to know who you are as a player, they know who you are as a person. And if you’re a reflection of your past, that kind of translates into leadership. And leadership is a person who’s doing the right thing.”

Williams started just 13 of 66 games that season. But he played 21.6 minutes per game, and on a transient roster, with mostly young contributors, his status quickly rose. His TCU nickname, “Kenny Hustle,” became a Thunder rallying cry. 

“For sure, they welcomed me with open arms,” Williams said of the Thunder. “It was kind of like a blank slate. Blank slate as far as team, structure, guys on the team, and when you have a blank slate like that, you kind of get to press your own journey and be the type of person you want to be, as a person and as a player.”

Blank slate. Fresh start. Williams stepped into that leadership void with his own particular status; he went from vocal in New Orleans to a voice in Oklahoma City.

And it goes back to the examples he set in those harrowing pandemic days. Be thankful for what you get to do. For the opportunities available.

“Just doing the right thing, whether that’s being a professional, staying before and after practice,” Williams said. “Taking care of my body. How I conduct myself outside the facility and basketball. Just being respectful to everyone, from the coaches to the custodians to the chefs. Little bit of everything.”

A first-round sweep of the Pelicans put the Thunder in rare company regardless of what happens next. - by Jenni Carlson https://t.co/3yxB0cjaKP #SelloutCrowd

— Sellout Crowd (@selloutcrowd_) May 1, 2024

Three years later, the Thunder remains young in age but all grown up in maturity. Gilgeous-Alexander has become an NBA superstar. Dort is a five-year starter with the same franchise, an NBA rarity for non-stars.

Williams has fallen down the depth chart. He was the 11th-man in the playoff rotation. He’s not even the second-most notable Williams on this team, as sophomore Jalen is turning into a star and fellow sophomore Jaylin is riding the crest of the name similarity while delivering valuable minutes as a backup center.

In his first three Thunder seasons, Kenrich Williams averaged 7.8 points and 22 minutes a game. This season, Williams averaged 4.7 points and 14.9 minutes.

No matter. Kenny Hustle’s status remains.

“He’s definitely got the same status,” Daigneault said. “He’s got a lot of clout with the guys. It’s not an age thing. It comes from his competitiveness, his constant team orientation. There’s nothing that can take him out of the team. And nothing that takes him out of the competition.

“As a result of that, the guys trust him, And he’s also now got some longevity here. He, Lu and Shai are our longest-tenured players. They were here from the (rebuild) beginning. When he talks, guys listen. And when he talks, the guys know his intentions are pure. His intentions are in the spirit of competing together. He’s an incredible voice for us.”

Williams now is 29. He’s got six years in the NBA. He’s lived through a trade and a pandemic, a massive teardown and rebuild. Who knows if Kenny Hustle still will be in uniform when the Thunder wins an NBA title? Who knows if the Thunder ever will win an NBA title?

But lots of guys have championship rings. Few have left their fingerprints all over a franchise. Kenrich Williams has.

“If you look at where we, three, four years ago, to where we are right now, I feel like I made a big impact,” Williams said. “I’m not on the Shai or Lu level as far as productivity on the court and all-star games and all that, but as far as building the culture and setting the tone for the team and what this organization is about, I think I put my imprint on the Thunder culture for sure.”