SGA fighting back tears in the post game interview after Jalen Williams’ gruesome leg injury
I hope his recovery is smooth. What is the usual recovery timeline for an injury like this, for an athlete of his stature to be able to trust and return to normal play? I would assume hes out for the season and playoffs.
Yeah there’s no chance he’s back at any point this season.
So sorry yall š just brutal
There’s a tiny chance. Caris Lavert only missed 3 months with his foot dangling off his leg. Tyquan Thornton of the Chiefs broke his leg and dislocated his ankle a few weeks ago, and they’re saying he only out 3-4 months.
I suppose there’s a chance it looked worse than it actually was but that was too similar to Hayward for me to think it’ll be a few months turnaround
Thatās very sad. I know Jalen was really upset about not being able to be there last year for the spurs series consistently and OKC was looking super scary to start the season
Depends on the extent of the damage which sometimes isnt known until the surgery. Gordon hayward was never the same again. Paul George really took more than 2 years to be a high level player again.
The mentality of trusting your body even if surgery and rehab goes well cant have a defined timeline.
Youāre right about Hayward, it was basically career ending in terms of the type of player he was. Even with PG, he had that amazing OKC run and many awesome years afterwards too but I do wonder if it was just the process of aging or his injury but I feel like PG in Indiana before the injury was dunking on people left, right and centre and not so much afterwards. I feel it really robbed his athleticism but his skill overall was so well-rounded that he continued to be a star.
Yeah, PG was like KD with the achilles, where the extra height and pre-exisiting shooting ability really helped.
And the skill. But PG never came close to the disruptive defensive player he was in Indiana. Hes still smart and has great hands but he was a destructive defensive force before the injury
What is crazy is that George Kittle for the 49ers is playing like nothing ever happened to his Achilles after returning 9 months later.
You are 1000% right from top to bottom. Pre injury PG was a highlight machine at the rim.
His athleticism didnāt diminish much aside from his first step and a bit of his lateral quickness. He was smart enough to work on the other parts of his game
I feel for him cuz he talked about how mentally damaging his last injury was to him said he was really depressed about it. Sucks out early this season has happened I hope he gets some help.
OKC never saw Andre Roberson again after his injury.
Personally this one looks worse, might just be the close up camera angle. A clean break looks horrible but would be best for his career. Unfortunately with how high it was and how his whole leg bent i canāt see it just being a break, I hope im wrong
Paul George wasnt ligament damage of the ankle and bone damage of a joint. Just a badly broken leg.
Hayward basically had to have his ankle rebuilt and it was never the same.
Iād say next season opener, potentially longer. This was bad as in might be both bone and ligament. Prayers up
That and the mental aspect. Just imagine having multiple injuries that has kept you for a bunch of games through different seasons that shit gonna mess with your mind.
This too. This the extreme case but itās exactly what Klay Thompson went thru. J dub hopefully not on that level but man, u just simply feel for the guy
Definitely will make some think twice about jumping.
And dub had said he struggled with the mental aspect of it last season š
I didnāt even think about ligaments, I was so focused on the bone aspect
Unfortunately how high it was and how his entire lower leg bent this looked very bad. Hope Iām wrong and itās just broken but it looked very bad
100% would be unsurprising if it was all ligaments in his knee. ACL and PCL, maybe meniscus and then a broken leg as well.
At least 12 months. Could easily be January 2028 before we see him again. These are tricky in that the bone heals some fairly quickly, so he will likely be walking by March-April. But, it takes a really long time for it to heal to the point of basketball wear and tear.
Thatās what I was thinking about, all the stress the bone takes from jumping and landing
Yep. Not to mention the ligaments. If thereās ligament damage, could be 18 months. And even then, probably the 2028-2029 season before heās really himself again, provided everything heals properly.
Those ligaments wonāt be the same again. Like Iāve had bad sprains from running and it never felt stable again.
He will be walking in a boot likely by early January, assuming surgery is done in the next 10 days. Being non weight bearing so long has more detriment to healing than early range of motion with protected weightbearing (CAM boot)
Done for this season and maybe even missing part of next season
damn how come? I just saw the video. I thought it was just like a broken bone
Basketball is a high intensity activity. Recovery time to walking is different than being ready to compete in a sport at a high level.
oh that’s so true my bad
Gordon Hayward had virtually the same exact injury 5 minutes into the 2017ā18 season. He didn’t play again that season.
lol
Was it Paul George bad? I haven’t seen the replay nor do I want to.
dont watch yes it was that bad
Paul George had a clean break which meant an easier road to recovery. I hope that JWill has a similar situation and even if not, has everything he needs to get back to form. He seems like a good young man and I wish him the best.
PG rushed his return because that time NBA players would attempt to return even if their playoff chances are not that bright.
That is JDub not JWill
I canāt bring myself to watch
Very similar, it was very difficult to watch and stomach
Like actually broken leg? I canāt go out of my way to look at leg injuries, but hopefully if itās a clean break and not a compound, he gets closer to his same trajectory.
I just hope it wasnāt a Kevin Ware or Shaun Livingston
Not quite as horrific to see as Ware or Livingston. Awkward landing with his full body weight on top of his own leg/ankle. Ankle clearly dislocated. Possible fracture as well.
Very broken. Do not recommend watching.
Possibly / likely tib fib both broken.
His leg basically bent like 90 degrees
It was definitely bad, wish I didnāt see it
You remember gordon hayward? Almost like that except you can see his leg twisted and sway and good thing is there is no replay of it.
Iām gonna be honest, itās obviously very bad, but not Paul George or Hayward bad.
Donāt know until we know the damage. Best cause simple break without hardware/surgery and would be back later this season. Worst case - heās out till 2028 and not back to normal for 2 years while still losing mobility/athleticism.
Whatās the injury?
Full year for sure. I just broke my tibia, fibula and tibia plateau and the surgeon said typically 3 months of bone healing, 3 months of hard physical therapy, 3 months learning how to walk again properly and 3 months perfecting things getting fully back to normal. Iām sure being a pro athlete things will go a little more quickly, Iād expect him on the court around this time next year with limited minutes.
Fred Warner who plays middle linebacker for the 49ers had a similar injury and missed roughly 4 months but he admitted later he wasnāt quite 100% not to mention, itās impossible to tell because we donāt know what ligament damage there is, assuming a similar injury and he only broke/dislocated his ankle he would likely be out until much later in the year/early playoffs if he can come back.
Probably plays next season, but 18 months to look in form if ever
Hopefully its just ligaments OR bone and not both.
We dont know what bones might be broken and what tendons might be torn. So there is a lot of speculation.
I don’t think he will ever play again.
Why does everyone in here have to preface their statements with āI get why people hate his gameā etc. before they say something positive? Weird karma farmers
It’s very strange but people haven’t been able to act normal about OKC for 2 years now so it’s not exactly surprising
Which is weird to me since this team was basically organically put together. Really unlucky injury.
I mean yall laughed at Luka and AR when they got hurt came on here talked endless amounts of shit and cheered when he got hurt during the game. Maybe that has something to do with it.
It was a couple people in the crowd at the game and this whole subreddit acted like the entire crowd and r/thunder were collectively throwing a parade
Where? I donāt remember ever seeing a comment from anybody laughing at stuff like this.
This is reddit in general.
A popular artist does something good and redditors will be like “not a fan of her music but…”, every single time.
It’s so lame, just say what you want to say, we don’t want to hear your backstory.
Annoys me to no end how people just hate on everything just because. As long as it’s not some messed up shit I think it’s pretty cool whenever someone just straight up says they like something without any excuses or “but…”
This guy is the consummate professional and you see it here. My heart breaks for these guys man.
Really passive aggressive imo, no matter how you feel about a player or his game, you never wanna see stuff like this
I usually hate your comments but you have a point and a great personality
They treat him like heās Trump on here and you have to virtue signal that you hate him so everyone who reads your comment knows before reading it lol.
Such a crazy Reddit thing.
Its because redditors tailor their speech, this subreddit hasnt been ok with speaking normally about OKC for years now, so everyone gets the memo that first you need to preface anything positive with a statement that keeps you on their good side. The karma system enforces this.
You can see this happening on Reddit in a shitton of different subreddits and circlejerks
I’m not a racist, but I really disagree with your comment
I donāt want to watch but can somebody describe the injury? Was it like Paul George? Gordon Hayward?
Yes
Idk what these comments are on about. Both of those were worse than Jalenās. His ankle goes 90 degrees, haywards somehow did a full 180. And PGās leg breaks in half above his ankle in probably the worst sports injury Iāve seen on tv.
I donāt mean to downplay how gruesome Jalenās was though. Itās really bad and something you donāt want to see twice.
No injury was worse than the louiville guy in the final four. Ware
I’ll never forget that one
I was at that game. Luckily far enough from the court that we really couldnāt see any of the gruesome details. Took a minute to figure out what was actually happening.Gained a ton of respect for Luke Hancock with the way he supported Kevin in that moment.
The aftermath of the Alex Smith broken leg was nasty AF. Almost lost his leg.
Top 3 gruesome injuries Iāve seen in basketball are Kevin Wareās, Paul Georgeās and Shawn Livingstonās
Edit: Kevin, not KeāLel
Kevin Ware
Bogutās injury was pretty bad too
This is correct. And in the correct order.
Livingstons is my worst. Horrendous
Ke’Lel noO
Made the same comment before I even read this, really proves the point
God damn I forgot all about that.
I got to shoot hoops with him years after that injury. Surreal. I remember how terrible that was to watch, can’t imagine experiencing it
Elite Eight but ya
Wasnāt that surprisingly mild in terms of recovery? Gruesome as hell to watch either way
Kevin Ware and I agree
Garbajosa or something on the Raptors snapped his ankle and it was just dislocated dangling there before TSN cut away.
Kevin Ware?
College player. Played for Louisville. Leg snapped in an NCAA tournament game in 2013.
Not to mention the bone stuck out of his skin after he broke his shin.
Itās an injury I donāt think anyone will ever forget.
I saw that Kevin Ware injury live on Easter it was gruesome as fuck
my guy. his leg was dangling like a hoop earring
Hayward was the one I thought of immediately. Itās very distressing to watchā¦
Cam Skattebo
His knee was at an angle knees should not be at
Yeah, a pretty dead-on recreation of Gordon Hayward’s. Leg got caught underneath him as he got knocked out of the air going up for a layup / dunk.
Personally might have just been the camera angle but this looked worse than both of those.
Like both at the same time.
One per each leg?
Yep.
Ankle snaps and turns about 90 degrees left. Not pretty
Thank you, yeah I donāt want to see that
It was more like Shaun Livingston a while back very bad
Itās basically the same injury Caris Levert had when he had that severe ankle sprain on the nets
He was back in a couple months
Yeah fingers crossed itās nothing really bad and he can have a similar recovery. Iād hate to see him have a long term or career changing injury. Really promising player and heās already been battling a ton of injuries these last few years
Bones heal 100% to their original strength.
Crazy but true.
LeVert didn’t break a bone though
If someone is going to describe it to you, youāre still going to create that image in your head. Watch it and move on.
J-Dub was in a dark place after his injury last season and the Thunder players helped him get through it.
I cannot imagine what his mental state will be after this setback.
Repeated setbacks this bad puts you in a dark place man. Really hope they get him the mental help hes going to need too
Derrick Rose talked about the depress, ultimately he accepted being role player during the latter part of his career.
Jabari Parker couldn’t handle it, eventually had to go overseas.
Man, those injuries happening so early in Parker’s career really sucked. He looked so good in that small sample size
Iām close with a former professional athlete in a major sport who at one point was among the best in the world, but dealt with unending injuries to end his career. Itās been a few years and heās still working through it all.
Tell Andrew Luck there are Colts fans who still love him ā„ļø
He seems to be pretty content after retiring. I know he went skiing a lot and is now the general manager for Stanford football. He might be depressed about the state of the Stanford program though
My uncle from the back room just now. “No there aren’t!” /s
You don’t even have to be a professional. My best friend played in a sunday league team with me. He suffered an Acl tear and paused for a year. Came back a year later and in the second game back he did his Acl and meniscus in the other knee. He said he couldn’t even watch a game without crying the first year. Sometimes life is just unfair.
You don’t have to be a pro for it to suck bad
Source: used to play 3-5 comp games a week, now too old to play at all (wore out my body) and believe me, giving it up is HARD
Especially when your mind still wants to go
Agreed, but when youāre at that level it becomes an identity issue. In most cases youāve been one thing from the day your memories start to solidify, then suddenly you arenāt.
For those that arenāt quite talented enough, itās the wrong coach, wrong situation, etc. For those that know they had it, itās bad luck in whatever flavor of divinity they believe in.
I’m coming up on 40 and I still play pickup ball a couple of times a week. I’m currently recovering from my second surgery in the past 3 years that was the result of a basketball injury. My wife wants me to stop playing, my parents wants me to stop playing, my coworkers make jokes about me retiring from basketball… But I can’t do it. I love it too much. I’ll be right back out there as soon as my doctor clears me, but I know I’m probably only one more big injury away from having to quit.
I mean I’d say it’s worse for him all due respect but I totally get what you’re saying, especially when it’s one of your best habits that kept you in a good place. When you lose it the bad habits want to creep in, so you need to find new good habits. That part is very difficult.
My guess is Gordon Hayward
My guess is it’s not even an NBA player.
Lance Armstrong?
Bret Saberhagen?
Especially the rehab programs are the ones which affect you the most. Very slow progress but critical nonetheless. Those are the times doubt creeps in
Not even a Thunder fan necessarily but just as a basketball fan and competitor, it has to suck so fucking bad to be at your physical prime and having such a short window to take advantage, and then lose a whole season or more just because of one play.
Thatās part of what happened with Brandon Clark I believe.
Also another injury, especially a freak one like this is extremely extremely difficult to come back from. This might be career altering man
Into a place physically and mentally with Ben Simmons.
I was thinking more along the lines of Brandon Clarke. Stuff like this with such mental and physical pain easily leads to bad drug use
Now you just understand why Ben has to take a year off to focus on Fishing. I hope J-dub will take the year off an focus on something else.
Klay as well
different sport but canāt help but think of Rondale Moore
really hope heās doing ok and it isnāt like that
Prayers for Dub, man. Not being able to do the things physically you want to do can really eat at you mentally and leave you feeling so depressed. I hope he can find other outlets and people to lean on as he heals
Makes me think of Rondale Moore in the NFL most recently. RIP
I feel you on that one well put,
my heart aches for jdub, i canāt imagine the pain of the love of your life, basketball, being potentially taken from you forever with this injury
I am devastated
J-Dub?
Injuries have already hurt his young career a lot and this one is going to be much worse than anything that came before.
Dude looked like he was so deeply disappointed that he couldn’t even be bothered to feel pain in that moment. I can’t imagine how he feels.
I truly, genuinely cannot imagine how you could will yourself back from this. Then again, he made the NBA and I didn’t
You just do it. The mental battle will be tough so I hope he has a great family. But at least he doesnāt need to worry about money and work.
I hope so man, Reece James for Chelsea in the prem consistently tears his hamstring and misses so much time it takes a toll on players being repeatedly injured
That was part of the reason Andrew Luck retired. He was dealing with a calf strain at the time and found that rehab was so grueling and lonely that he decided he’d had enough
It was all going so well. RWB Reece, LWB Chilwell. Sigh
You donāt have to tell me he would cook under Xabi in that rb/rwb position bro but his body lets him down
That night v Juve at the Bridge…such wild highs and lows in the same game.
Man, I hope the medical staff and the people around Jalen are just super careful with the pain meds. Having to manage pain / rehab while dealing with the mental toll of a career-altering injury on top of previous long-term injuries can lead to some really bad outcomes.
I had a classmate in middle school who died in his sleep after his dad put a fentanyl patch on his back. He was already on other opiates prescribed by his surgeon. He was only 14.
Busting your ass all summer just to get back on the floor only for a freak accident to happen three games in is beyond cruel. You can tell Shai views him as a brother, not just a teammate.
he’s guaranteed almost a quarter of a billion dollars over the next five years, can’t be that dark
broke my hand avoiding a car while riding a bike. as a farmer i almost wanted to end my life because i cant do much lifting right now and its getting in the way of progress and slowing my money. just alot of positive self talks to stay out of that dark place.
Wait is it that bad? Edit: the video I watched didn’t show the actual injury, that was horrible.
Not only is it likely season ending, but it’s almost certainly career altering.
And please don’t use Paul George, who was very much the exception to the rule, as an example.
He’s had severe hamstring injuries and now a serious ankle/leg injury.
When he does come back, whenever that is, he may not be the same player he once was.
Not to mention that he still had/has untapped potential, he was supposed to get even better, as he’s just 25 years old and missed most of his age 24 season. The last time we saw him healthy, he was 23-years-old, and made All-NBA.
Now it’s a question of whether he can even reach where he was before, let alone his actual full potential.
Did they announce what the injury was? I just saw that he couldn’t walk off the court.
He snapped his leg….
Probably fine considering the money
Never seen him react like this. The severity was obvious when watching, but this hits really hard
Say what you will about SGA, dude clearly loves his teammates and this is hurting him bad. Brutal
People can be critical about SGA all they want but you canāt deny the fact dude genuinely cares about his teammates and staff and is a great locker room prescence
Nothing about SGA has ever put his character into question I donāt think
He honestly seems like a great dude and a genuine role-model
Yea like I complain about his flopping and whining for calls but I still enjoy and respect the rest of his game. And off the court he is probably THE consummate professional. No ugly comments, no hating, always respectful with questions. No scandals.
Ehhh, the hate train was nuts
itās always been about basketball, and more specifically foul baiting. nobodyās out here calling him a terrorist, woman beater, or a weed possessor.
That’s just sports, though. It’s fun to hate, and you can despise someone as a player while having no problem with them as a person.
I will say that the current social media landscape amplifies toxicity more than anything else
I hate watching his play style, but I respect him as one of the best in the game right now, and he seems to be a genuinely good dude and teammate.
the difference between some teen-angst “foul baiting” hate train vs SGA as a person, he’s NEVER done anything to warrant the latter.
He seems to have fixed the part of his game we collectively hated watching. I, personally, enjoy watching him again. So sad for Jalen though.
Shai is class, there’s no doubt about it.
Yeah heās just corny and a try hard
Heās a flopper. A con artist.
The biggest flops ever? Pretty questionable.
If you think hes the worst flopper ever you havent watched basketball long enough.
SGA is a good dude and there definitely are worse players to cheer for out there.
Him going to check on Hali after game 7 said a lot about his class
I donāt think thereās ever been questions about his character or anything like that, people just critique the playstyle lol.
Seems like a good guy, a great teammate, and is always a consummate professional.
Oh Iām a certified hater and still think he is a good dude! Just donāt love his game!
I respect your honesty good sir
I donāt think anyoneās ever really questioned SGA as person, some folks just donāt like his style of play. From everything he does outside basketball he seems like a good dude.
He seems like a great guy but honestly this shit is so traumatic youād have to be a psychopath to not feel anything
This is enough to give you ptsd
Agreed. Say what you want about him on the court (and believe me, Iāll say plenty), but I donāt think the dudes off court character has ever been in question
Yea, i’m not a fan of all the falling down, but dude seems like a great guy
Heās never done anything off the court to garner the intense hatred he gets. As far as anyone can tell heās a good dad, a good husband a good sport to his fellow competitors, humble, and a good teammate.
The guy is a model athlete in so many ways. Seems like a genuinely good dude
Yep, I canāt stand watching him play, but he seems to be a great dude.
Facts
I want to like him so badly. The flopping just makes me physically ill.
Part of the reason I was so frustrated with him last season as a Spurs fan is because heās actually talented, the flopping shit was just over the top.
The fact that it happened right in front of him was also brutal. Knowing Jdub did everything he could to get back and rehab just and unfortunately get hurt again, they dont deserve that.
Wishing Jdub a speedy recovery
Genuinely feel like shit for Dub and the guys. This is awful, especially so early on. The vibes are almost always impeccable with the team, but Dub having such tough luck and especially an injury like this… it’s just hard to get over it.
I hope he comes back better than ever, but it will be a very difficult recovery period and the guys will definitely feel this one. Terrible day to be a fan of the game and the sport, injuries are the absolute worst.
Fucking hope Dub can eventually catch a break.
I am a neutral fan, but watching it in real time, I think I will take a break from watching NBA for a little bit time. Thatās how much I feel sad and feel bad for Jdub. I cant imagine how SGA and the rest of his team mates feel about it, they seem to be a very tight-knit group. Its more than basketball, I hope Jdub not only recover from this but also come back stronger.
It always hurts when you see a friend suffer that much but for it to be this gruesome and knowing the context of his previous injuries?
I’m a certified Thunder hater but this is just heart breaking.
I’ve watched someone snap their ankle like this before. The sound it makes… its harrowing. It stays with you forever.
Potentially career altering. Prayers up.
Low key could be a career ending but hopefully not
PG came back from a nasty fracture and was just as good, Hayward was never really the same but he played for many more years. Hoping for the best outcome for Jdub
George came back and was arguably better but he was definitely changed and honestly maybe his peak wouldāve been higher
PGs was different from Hayward/Jalenās theirs is way closer to the ankle
PG completely reconstructed his game after the leg snap, he was never the same athletically.
Idk about that. He had his best year ever 4 years after the injury finishing 3rd in MVP. If there was a very slight athletic decline, I think it was just being 4 years older and not because of the break.
Paul George also recovered from TWO shoulder surgeries. Testament to his will power and dedication. Truly impressive to not only recover physically - but mentally as well.
Damn nobody mentioned Shaun Livingston. I’ll never forget that one omg
Yeah Hayward was never even close to the same after his, I think all the ligament damage makes it harder to repair compared to a higher break or a knee/achilles tear
nah not with modern medicine. it’ll be a hard road back but all these lower body injuries don’t hamper players long term like they used to.
Probably not, but it’s no guarantee he’ll get back to being an All-NBA player
Yall mfs say this about every single injury. Rarely is it the case. Heāll be back
Don’t overreact, it’s a broken leg
Almost certainly
Only Paul George has come back remotely close to where he was. Hayward was never the same. Hope JDub got good people around him during the journey back
And even with PG the athleticism was never the same to the levels when Pacers Heat were going at it in the playoffs
Dub almost has to rely on being a consistent spot up shooter and almost certainly kiss that athleticism goodbye
would you mind describing the injury for me? I donāt wanna watch the clip
Jalen Williams goes left around the defense. He blows past Kris Dunn on the baseline as Dunn chases him. Williams attempts to go for the dunk and is met at the rim by Derrick Jones Jr. While in the air, Dunn pushes Williams from the lower back, throwing his legs forward. Williams’s left leg lands straight down while his right leg is pushed upward. Williams’s left leg bends back in such a way that his ass lands on the outer side of his foot, resulting in his foot being bent outwards at a 90 degree angle. The unnatural outward bend is in the vicinity of his ankle
Brutal. Was it an accident from Dunn?
Broke his leg, idk if the ankle or the tibia, but the foot was facing outwards after getting it out (he fell in it). His reaction was just shock, really horrible but it looks like it didn’t break the skin.
thanks. now Iām also seeing the comparisons to PGās and Haywardās injury. damn Jdub :/
Fingers crossed but I donāt think itās as bad as those injuries.
Ending maybe. We were all so excited to have him back. Heās been such a fan favorite and lovable guy when SGA was so hated. This sucks a lot. I appreciate the prayers and everything
Guys come back from tough injuries these days, I wouldn’t call it a career yet. I know ACL is different but that shit used to be tough now Tatum, Hali, Kyrie, Dame all look great so far. We had KD as well of course, PG came back from a tough injury
Prayers will fix this
Never seen Shai like that. Heartbreaking stuff. Hope JDub has a speedy recovery. That was a career altering injury man
Eyes were red when he was shooting Dub’s FTs.
Sending love to J Dub š š§”
Thank you bro. Wishing your team be healthy this season!
Thank you. Iāve always liked the Thunder ever since the KD Russ days. Cheers, mate!
It’s crazy. SGA usually is good at keeping a brave face. This was so unexpected and with barely any time at the end of the game. Props to him to even attempt the interview.
I guess he always put on a brave front as the face of the franchise and de facto leader but man, the severity of that injury is titanic.
I think its OK if sometimes players just want to walk away from an interview post game. I can’t imagine how difficult this was for Shai when you know what Jalen has been through.
I’d like to think SGA even doing this interview is due to the relationship Nick Gallo has built with the whole squad and what a good dude he is. Nick obviously knows that fulfilling media obligations is the last thing that the players want to be doing in that moment. Props to him for making it as short as he reasonably could and props to SGA to try and hold it together. Sucks for all. Prayers for J-dub.
Oh for sure. He did a good job for the awful circumstances, but I’m just saying I definitely would’ve understood esp with it being so late in the game. Like, it’s never gonna be fair, but that really just wasn’t.
I think in scenarios like this where an obviously bad injury has occurred, it should be a thing where media just doesn’t do the court side interview. Let the players gather their thoughts a bit and then answer questions at media availability.
Unfortunately that’s part of being a leader in a public position like this. SGA just happens to be really good at it
Fucking heartbreaking, Dub is such a good person with great energy. Doesnāt deserve this :/
Easily my favorite Thunder player. Bruh. What the hell. Not okay.
I don’t want to see it. What happened? I can’t handle the leg stuff
His ankle was turned close to 90 degrees in the wrong direction in relation to his knee and thigh.
Best case is dislocation. Worst case is multiple fractures. If everything goes perfect then he’s back by the playoffs. More likely he’s out for the season. Really tragic, no one deserves this.
Jalen Williams goes left around the defense. He blows past Kris Dunn on the baseline as Dunn chases him. Williams attempts to go for the dunk and is met at the rim by Derrick Jones Jr. While in the air, Dunn pushes Williams from the lower back, throwing his legs forward. Williams’s left leg lands straight down while his right leg is pushed upward. Williams’s left leg bends (normally) in such a way that his ass lands on the outer side of his foot, resulting in his foot being bent outwards at a 90 degree angle. The unnatural outward bend is in the vicinity of his ankle
Looked like a broken ankle after he landed on his leg. Horrible stuff.
At least the ankle. Looks like it could have been a slightly higher break, even.
I can’t find the clip now and clicked out of it pretty quickly
as I remember watching, he came down from the rim and instead of collapsing (which is normal), his leg bounced off the floor at the wrong angle from the knee
maybe weird angle or maybe I’m misremembering if the other guy said it looks like a broken ankle
His left leg got caught under him and his body and other leg landed on top of his lower leg/ankle and broke something around that area.
Jdub is such a baller and seems like a good dude. I genuinely wish him a speedy recovery
Why are there 4 threads in the top 10 of SGA reacting to the injury, but I can’t find a thread about the injury itself?
Man no trolls pls, this is legitimately sad even if you hate OKC.
JDub worked hard as fuck to get back.
Yeah regardless of who you root for, this is the last thing that should happen. Win or lose, just hope that no one gets hurt.
Anybody trolling about this is genuinely sick in the fucking head
Denver fans are in the other post talking about injuries being the only reason we have a title.
They need to read the damn room. Nasty work
No thatās bad. Fuck those people.
At the end of the day these people are human and I feel fucking terrible for him to have just gotten back and doing the thing he loves most just to have it snatched away from him again.
I mean facts tho, sucks to see but they didnāt stop celebrating because hali tore his ACL. Thatās how the game goes
Oh and fuck Kris Dunn too.
It wasnāt even dirty itās just two guys going hard
Bro clearly didnāt watch the whole game, Clippers played dirty for 46 minutes. This is the result of a reckless game by both the clips and refs. Foh if you donāt have the complete picture.Edit: for those that donāt know, Wallace, JWill, Caruso, and obv Dub were all injured. Aināt no fucking coincidence.
He made a play on the ball and made contact with the ball. Just really unfortunate man
I agree it wasn’t a dirty play. It just feels like it because the game was called super physical like a playoff game for some reason. Refs should have been calling more for game 3 of the regular season so stuff like this doesn’t happen in meaningless games. It had been escalating.
I also think the Clippers players felt so bad it almost looked like they gave up after that like a tip of the cap or something. They even let SGA take the free throws for JDub, which I thought they could pick any player on the court.
Dirty ass thug player fr
Fuck off, man
Shut your racist coded ass up. Please
WHat if the Onion drops an article?
I donāt think any actual Grizz fan would troll after what just happened with Clarke
Heās such a fun player to watch. This is terrible news
I feel bad for him but let’s not start lying
Certain things you can just keep to yourself
What? We supposed to pretend this entire thunder team hasn’t been playing dirty af on defense, injuring other team’s players and then flop on offense?
I hate OKC and this is karma for what those people do on the basketball court. Practice not flopping and selling bullshit fouls and you can finish strong but thatās not the OKC way so it is what it is.
This ain’t no damn karma for flopping. Smh
Always a Wolves flair. If you think that he flopped here, you might have to question how little you know about ball
Literally every player flops.
you’re a weirdo. Flopping is mildly annoying, someone having their career altered with it is not karma bc it’s not deserved. Your poverty franchise is also never winning shit
Flair up doofus
Paul George’s broken leg didn’t derail his career too badly, hopefully Dub can recover similarly
Yeah, JDub will be fine as a player when he comes back. Players come back from Achilles tears and are fine now. It just sucks because for two straight seasons he has had injury problems. Hoepfully his mental stays strong.
This time off will allow him to fully recover from everything that’s been ailing him.
I said that last year:/
Nah, don’t delude yourself assuming the achilles was suddenly “solved”, Durant was never the same. Now we have the examples of Haliburton and Tatum, they are younger than Durant, if they sustain their production and heavy minutes, ok, that will be a strong sign
Durant was still amazing wtf are you talking about lol
Of course not. He had sparks here and there, he also got injured. The same Durant who played in the Warriors and late in OKC, that version of him never returned
Achilles tears used to essentially end your career, or at least massively affect it. KD post-injury averaged nearly 30ppg for three seasons and is having a very good career for someone his age.
It did derail it quite a bit. He was coming off a post season where he went head to head with LeBron. It took him a few seasons to get back, and he wasnāt as explosive. He got smoother to compensate, at least it feels like that
Theyāve come a long way with how they can treat these kinds of fractures recently. Weāve seen a lot of athletes return from these kinds of fractures just as good as they were before the injury.
Itās hard to believe with how visually gruesome it was but in a lot of ways itās better than a major ligament or tendon injury. That is of course assuming he avoided any vascular damage which is obviously a very real worst case scenario.
Heās young, hopefully there are no complications and he can grind out that recovery process. Once heās through that he should be good to go!
My brother had a very similar injury (not sports-related) and it was a tough recovery process. He made it through okay, but had episodic swelling and soreness there for a while.
may have to shift the kind of player he is, but i can see him finding success and getting more and more improved in his skillset.
Yes, the silver lining is the medical recovery technology available nowadays specially for top level athletes is almost miracle and magic like. Jdub will not only recover but also come back stronger.
His career will likely be fine, but itās devastating to the teams championship window
Holy fuck it reminded me of how Paul Georgeās leg looked
Prayers up for j dubb, just unfair to such a gamer man
Not to downplay it but PG’s was a clean tibia break. JWills looks more like Haywards
Hayward too. Just brutal injuries and I remember both PG and Hayward talking about the mental struggles being as tough as the physical rehab coming back.
Jdub already struggled mentally last year after his injury. Hopefully he gets back stronger than ever
Paul George came back. So thereās hope
Prayers for J Dub. Heāll be back.
Bro I just feel so bad for J-Dub man, he goes through one injury after another each season.
SGA, what a great guy honestly, he knows what J-Dub has been through, I hope he can recover well, and he can be healthy for the playoffs.
Fucking hell man they’re like brothers too just feel bad for jdub first and foremost but Shai loves the dude so I know he’s feeling it rn too
Canāt even get 3 games in without some bullshit happening to Dub man
Shit ain’t fair man. He’s had such bad luck for the last two years. That hurt to watch.
Longer than 2 years. Orbital in rookie season, wrist during chip, hamstrings last year, and then fucking this.
Prayers for Jdub heartbreaking
Shit Iām gonna cry this absolute sucks
Get well soon J Dub
Iām crying with you 2š
Crying worse than when a dog dies in a movie.
Heartbreaking stuff.
I’m gonna cry man. Hes my favorite thunder player and I was hyped when they got him and chet. After recovering from his nagging injuries this is just horrible to see. No one deserves this especially not him.
Shaiās emotions encapsulate how all of us feel right now. Sucks so bad. Dub is a fighter. Three injuries tonight and we still have dudes who havenāt come back from last year.
The NBA is many things but unfair and cruel are the most apt words right now
Iām sorry for my negativity towards the thunder.
I love Shai. Just a genuinely good person
Feel ya, man. OKC fans and players were class when Hali went down, dude cannot catch a break. š
The fans were classless when Luka got hurt. Glad they were nice to Hali though, love that guyās game
Lakers fans and players, always the victims
shai is the role model of the league for anyone who has eyes to see
Shit making me cry
Shesh man, you just hate to see it no matter who it is, especially after what he went through last year. Really sad
that shit genuinely shook me when i saw it man that looked brutal. i genuinely hope this isnt majorly career altering
This feels like Klay. There’s gonna be a before and after, goddamn.
Why is anyone being made to do a post game interview here.