A scary finish becomes a season-altering diagnosis
Oklahoma City now knows how bad it was. Jalen Williams will need surgery on a broken left fibula and a dislocated left ankle, the Thunder confirmed overnight, and HoopsHype reports he is expected to miss most of the season, if not all of it.
The injury came in the closing minutes of Sunday’s 108-101 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Driving to the basket with 1:14 left, Williams went down under the rim with his lower left leg bent at an angle that silenced the arena. Play stopped for roughly five minutes while towels were draped over the ankle. He was carried off on a stretcher, waving to the crowd with two thumbs up as fans stood to applaud. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander fought back tears afterwards.
no renewal
Free for 2 weeks.
Wallace goes down with him
The bad news did not stop there. The team announced Monday that guard Cason Wallace also needs surgery, for a left labral tear picked up in the same game. No return date has been set for him either, and recoveries from that kind of procedure usually run for several months.
Both players sit on the roster’s defensive core. Wallace earned an All-Defensive selection last season, and Williams made the same list on the 2024-25 championship team. Williams, a former All-Star and All-NBA pick, has averaged 18 points over his first 250 NBA games, but he was already coming off a season in which wrist and hamstring trouble cost him 49 regular-season games.
Presti stays measured
General manager Sam Presti struck an optimistic tone about both recoveries and said it could have been far worse. The wider context is hard to ignore, though. Chet Holmgren lost his entire rookie year to a foot problem, and Nikola Topic has played just 10 games across two seasons after an ACL tear and a cancer diagnosis. Oklahoma City has plenty of depth, but losing two rotation pieces in week one tests it early.
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