GQ Sports
A Guide to Every Player Named Jalen in the NBA
There are currently 15 NBA players named some variation of Jalen (or Jaylen, Jaylin, and even Jaylon). Here’s an exhaustive guide to the most popular name in the league.
By Matthew Roberson
March 11, 2026
Play/Pause ButtonIllustration by Chris Panicker; Getty Images
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The three most important NBA phenomena of the 21st century are, in some order: the player empowerment era, the three-point revolution, and everyone being named some form of Jalen. The first refers to the labor-driven idea that players control the league, not the executives, leading to superstars voicing their displeasure and switching teams more often than ever. The second was born from simple mathematics, as players collectively realized that shooting three pointers gets you more points. The final one is the newest, and arguably the most noticeable. Put bluntly, there are hella professional basketball players named Jalen (or Jaylen, Jaylin, and even Jaylon).
In fact, as of this writing, there are 15 different versions of that name all over NBA rosters, all of them younger than 30. This checks out, given larger societal trends. Per BabyCenter.com, the name Jalen peaked in popularity in the year 2000. The influx of baby Jalens in America eventually became adult Jalens in the NBA, some of whom are extremely nice with it. Five members of the Jalen/Jaylen/Jaylin/Jaylon cohort have already made an All-Star team, three have won a championship, and several others have established themselves as above-average NBA players. As their Gen Z brothers and sisters are placing footholds in the workforce, they’re doing the same, except their offices are places like Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center.
The Jalen/Jaylen/Jaylin/Jaylon wave has become so noticeable that people are writing songs about it. Musician and podcaster Rainey Ovalle went viral earlier this month for his hit song “Jalen Invasion,” which poses the question, Why are there so many Jalens in the NBA? The answer, unscientifically, is just that the name has become more popular. It’d be like asking why there were so many players in the ’90s named Michael, David, or Chris. But two things are undeniably true: It’s hilarious that this has become a defining meme of this basketball season, and all these players owe a debt of gratitude to 13-year NBA veteran Jalen Rose, who long ago declared himself the first-ever Jalen (his name is a portmanteau of his father’s name, James, and his uncle’s, Leonard).
Rose’s career peaked from roughly 1999 to 2003, in direct correspondence with the birth years of the NBA’s current Jalen crop. The first Jalen post-Rose to grace an NBA court was Jalen Jones, who played from 2017 to 2019. But more pertinent to this conversation, Jones was born in 1993, surely a result of Jalen Rose’s popularity as part of Michigan’s Fab Five. Perhaps there’s a form of nominative determinism happening here, in which parents named their kid Jalen in hopes that they too would become professional athletes. (For what it’s worth, there’s a slew of Jalen variations in the NFL as well, and a similar thing has happened with the name Shaq, albeit on a smaller scale.)
We know it can be hard to keep track of everyone named Jalen/Jaylen/Jaylin/Jaylon suiting up in NBA arenas, so we’ve put together a helpful guide, organized into a starting lineup, reserve unit, and bench guys.
By completing this exercise, one thing became clear: The Jalen Squad would, quite comfortably, be a top three team in the NBA.
The starting five:
Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
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Nathaniel S. Butler/Getty Images
Position: Point Guard
Age: 29
Hometown: New Brunswick, New Jersey
Brunson is the best Knick since Patrick Ewing, and he has a very real chance to become the best Knick ever, period. Their styles of play could not be more different, though, as Ewing towered over the low post with his seven-foot, 240-pound frame, and Brunson is, respectfully, the same height as a lot of the regulars at your local park. Already among the best point guards in the world, Brunson would truly ascend to framed-photo-in-every-pizzeria territory by bringing the Knicks to the NBA Finals this summer.
Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder
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Joshua Gateley/Getty Images
Position: Shooting Guard
Age: 24
Hometown: Gilbert, Arizona
Not to be confused with his similarly named OKC teammate Jaylin Williams, the man they call J-Dub was the second-best player on the Thunder’s 2025 championship team. Not only did he explode for a 40-point game during those NBA Finals, he did so as a 24-year-old. The sky is truly the limit for Williams, who should be a staple of playoff, All-Star, and Team USA Olympic teams for years to come. A true child of the 2000s, he’s also a brand ambassador for an Ecko Ultd. campaign.
Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
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Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Position: Shooting Guard/Small Forward
Age: 29
Hometown: Marietta, Georgia
Brown is very, very good at basketball. So good, in fact, that he signed a record-setting $307 million contract in 2023. At the time, that was the largest in NBA history. (It was later overshadowed by his Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum, who inked a $314 million deal with Boston.) The Jays, as they’re known in NBA circles, are perhaps the best duo in the entire league, and, for better or worse, they’ll always be linked. If they can cobble together another championship or two—they vanquished Luka Dončić in the 2024 Finals to capture their first, with Brown winning Finals MVP—the inane argument over who the Celtics’ true alpha is will be nothing more than a footnote to history.
Jalen Johnson, Atlanta Hawks
Image may contain Basketball Person Playing Basketball Sport Ball and BasketballTodd Kirkland/Getty Images
Position: Power Forward
Age: 24
Hometown: Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
Johnson, who was a member of Mike Krzyzewski’s penultimate team at Duke, made his first NBA All-Star team in 2026. He’s a candidate for the Most Improved Player award thanks to several statistical leaps (he’s averaging a career high in points, assists, and free throw attempts), and is now the definitive face of the Atlanta Hawks following Trae Young’s departure via mid-season trade.
Jalen Duren, Detroit Pistons
Image may contain Monica Forsberg La Parka Ball Basketball Basketball Sport Person and Playing BasketballMike Mulholland/Getty Images
Position: Center
Age: 22
Hometown: New Castle, Delaware
Let’s start with this: Duren might just be the most swole player in the NBA. His arm pythons are the first thing you notice whenever watching Duren hoop, with the second being his outsized impact on the game. A first-time All-Star like Johnson, Duren earns the starting center spot on the Jalen team. He’s becoming much more than the Robin to Cade Cunningham’s Batman too. This massive season for the Pistons has elevated Duren into the conversation of best big men in the whole league. It’s amazing what eating a copious amount of grapes can do for a guy.
The second unit:
Jalen Suggs, Orlando Magic
Image may contain Zoltan Bathory Aron Baynes Leon Jan Wyczółkowski Adult Person People Clothing Shorts Hat and HeadRocky Widner/Getty Images
Position: Point Guard
Age: 24
Hometown: Saint Paul, Minnesota
A tenacious defender with a troubled injury history, Suggs has the potential to one day usurp Brunson as the Jalens’ point guard once the Knicks’ floor general ages into the twilight of his career. Ankle, back, and knee issues have stunted Suggs’s development a bit, but he’s a very nice player with a bright future ahead of him. And while the NBA put the kibosh on him wearing his headband around his neck, there is one thing that can never be taken away from Suggs: In 2021, he hit one of the sickest shots in March Madness history.
Jalen Green, Phoenix Suns
Image may contain Zhang Zhongqi Natrone Means Christian Jones Clothing Footwear Shoe Sneaker Basketball and PersonChris Coduto/Getty Images
Position: Shooting Guard
Age: 24
Hometown: Fresno, California
On paper, Green seems to have it all. He’s a supremely talented scorer, can scrape the clouds when he goes up for a dunk, and looks great in Calvin Klein underwear. But that hasn’t quite translated into the All-Star status that scouts envisioned when Green was the second overall pick in the 2021 draft. Now on his second team—the Houston Rockets traded him to Phoenix in July 2025—Green’s early tenure in the desert has been defined by a troublesome hamstring injury. When healthy, and reining in his sometimes questionable shot selection, Green can be a more-than-useful offensive weapon. He’s also the only Jalen with a peace sign tatted on his hand.
Jaylon Tyson, Cleveland Cavaliers
Image may contain Adult Person and HairRocky Widner/Getty Images
Position: Shooting Guard/Small Forward
Age: 23
Hometown: Plano, Texas
In the span of one year, Tyson has become one of the league’s most lethal shooters. After playing very sparingly as a rookie, his three-point percentage has shot into the league’s top tier as a second-year player, improving his scoring average by 10 points from 2024–25 to ’25–’26. No Jalen/Jaylen/Jaylon stands to be a bigger X factor for their team’s playoff chances than Tyson, who can shoot the Cavs in or out of any game.
Jaylen Wells, Memphis Grizzlies
Image may contain Adult Person Black Hair Hair Face and HeadRocky Widner/Getty Images
Position: Small Forward
Age: 22
Hometown: Sacramento, California
The afroed youngster has the best hair of anyone in this group and, at just 22 years old, has ample room to get even better, both on and off the court. An über-talented athlete, Wells finished third in Rookie of the Year voting last season, making him a true second-round success story. As the Grizzlies continue pedaling forward without a rudder, Wells is one of Memphis’s beacons of hope.
Jaylin Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder
Image may contain Moon Taejong Face Head Person Skin Tattoo Happy Adult Laughing Angry and ShoutingJoshua Gateley/Getty Images
Position: Power Forward
Age: 23
Hometown: Fort Smith, Arkansas
He will never be as famous as the Jalen Williams he shares a locker room with, but this Williams (J-Will) has a résumé that 90% of NBA players would kill for. He’s got a championship ring—which came without the pressure of having to carry the load, just playing five minutes per game in the Finals—and is set up nicely to reap the spoils of balling with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, and the other Williams for years to come. There are also two great Williams fun facts. One, he is the last player in NBA history to wear No. 6, which was retired leaguewide in 2022 to honor Bill Russell. Players like Williams who were already wearing it were grandfathered in, and four years later, Williams is the last one standing. Second, when the Thunder grabbed him out of the University of Arkansas in 2022, he became the first player of Vietnamese descent ever drafted by an NBA team.
The best of the rest:
Jalen Pickett, Denver Nuggets
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Position: Point Guard
Age: 26
Hometown: Rochester, New York
An archetypal scrappy backup point guard with a strong three pointer, he also gets to hang out with Nikola Jokić, which surely has its perks.
Jaylen Clark, Minnesota Timberwolves
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Position: Shooting Guard
Age: 24
Hometown: Riverside, California
Known more for his defense than offense, Clark won Defensive Player of the Year in college and has found his niche as Anthony Edwards’s backup in Minnesota.
Jalen Wilson, Brooklyn Nets
Image may contain Zhang Zhongqi Basketball Person Playing Basketball Sport Adult Ball and BasketballMike Mulholland/Getty Images
Position: Small Forward
Age: 25
Hometown: Denton, Texas
Once again, we have a member of the team whose college accomplishments outweigh his professional ones. Wilson won the 2022 NCAA championship with Kansas, becoming a solid bench scorer in the NBA.
Jalen Slawson, Indiana Pacers
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Slawson with the Noblesville Boom, the Indiana G League affiliate
Jeff Dean/Getty Images
Position: Small Forward
Age: 26
Hometown: Summerville, South Carolina
Slawson has not appeared in an NBA game since April 14, 2024. He is, however, a member of the Pacers’ active roster, meaning we could see him at any time. He is yet another Jalen with a great piece of trivia attached to him: Slawson (born October 22, 1999) is the last player born in the 1990s to be selected in the NBA draft.
Jalen Smith, Chicago Bulls
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Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images
Position: Power Forward/Center
Age: 25
Hometown: Portsmouth, Virginia
Smith has been a staple of NBA rosters since 2020, playing for three different teams, and is mostly known for being one of the NBA’s last remaining goggles wearers.
Plus, a Remembrance of Jalens Past: Jaylen Adams, Jalen Bridges, Jalen Crutcher, Jalen Harris, Jaylen Hoard, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Jalen Jones, Jalen Lecque, Jaylen Martin, Jalen McDaniels, Jaylen Morris, Jaylen Nowell, Jaylen Sims