Thunder star Jalen Williams has fractured fibula, dislocated ankle after gruesome injury

The gruesome lower-leg injury that led to Oklahoma City Thunder standout Jalen Williams being taken off the court on a stretcher on Sunday, Oct. 25, will cost him a significant portion, if not all, of the 2026-27 NBA season.

Williams suffered a fractured fibula and dislocated ankle in his left leg, Thunder general manager Sam Presti confirmed in a Monday, Oct. 26, press conference. Presti said the injury will require surgery but did not provide a timeline for Williams’ potential return to the team.

Advertisement

Presti called the injury one that’s more associated with contact sports like football, but added that he’d been in contact with Williams, who was determined to move forward.

“He’s as tough as they come. He’s an elite competitor,” Presti said. “Even last night, just miraculous in terms of his outlook in the way he’s looking forward to attacking this. And, you know, we’re going to be with him the entire way.”

Of the injury, Presti said, “things could have been a lot worse.” Presti evoked past injuries that have cost the team’s stars significant time, including Williams battling multiple injuries last season and Chet Holmgren losing his rookie season to a foot injury.

Presti said “he hadn’t given a lot of thought” to any roster moves in response to the loss of a key player this early in the season. Williams is a career 17.9 point-per-game player who made the NBA All-Star Game in his last healthy season in 2024-25.

Advertisement

How Jalen Williams broke his fibula, dislocated his ankle

Williams’ injury occurred after an awkward landing under the basket with 1:14 left in the fourth quarter in the Thunder’s 108-101 home victory over the Clippers.

Williams went up for a dunk at the 1:15 mark in the fourth quarter and was fouled by Clippers guard Kris Dunn, who came in hard from behind while Derrick Jones Jr. was guarding Williams underneath.

Williams’ left foot rolled under his leg upon landing, and it was immediately clear that he had suffered a significant injury. A team official was seen coming over to place a towel over Williams’ leg as he was quickly attended to by an athletic trainer, while Thunder stars Shai…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/thunder-star-jalen-williams-fractured-220319966.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-10-26 22:03:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.