Jalen Williams’ fourth season with the Oklahoma City Thunder has been hampered by injury. The All-Star shooting guard has missed significant time this year due to a lingering hamstring injury.
When healthy, the 24-year-old has been integral to OKC’s success. Williams has played 32 games for the Thunder in 2025-26, averaging 17.0 points on 48.2% shooting, 4.6 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.2 steals in 28.3 minutes per contest.
The Thunder are back in action on Tuesday in a road matchup against an ailing Los Angeles Lakers side. OKC shared an unwanted update on Williams ahead of the marquee matchup at Crypto.com Arena.
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Williams returned to action on March 23 following more than a month on the shelf due to a right hamstring injury. However, he sat out on March 30 against the Detroit Pistons due to injury management. That was the tail end of a back-to-back set for OKC.
The defending champions have another back-to-back coming up. After taking on the Lakers on Tuesday, they will travel across town to battle the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday.
The Thunder announced on Monday night that Williams will not play against the Lakers. The team confirmed Williams' status via the official injury report. The 6-foot-5 guard will sit out for right hamstring injury management.
It does not seem like Williams aggravated his hamstring injury. It appears that the Thunder simply want to give him the night off on the front end of a back-to-back.
OKC enters Tuesday’s matchup against the Lakers with a 62-16 record. They remain the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, with the San Antonio Spurs 3.0 games behind them as of writing.
