Jazz’s Walker Kessler Out For Season With Labrum Tear In Shoulder

Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler is out for the remainder of the season after suffering a labrum tear in his left shoulder. NBA insider Chris Haynes was first to report.

Kessler initially hurt his shoulder in training camp before re-injuring it during the season. Kessler had started out the 2025-26 season in very positive fashion, averaging 14.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.8 blocks. He was also flashing some 3-point potential, knocking down six threes in those five games.

The 24-year-old played in 58 games last season, averaging 11.1 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks. He was the 22nd pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

Veteran Jusuf Nurkic has taken over the starting center role and collected a double-double in Utah’s last game. Kessler’s injury will likely open up more minutes for Kyle Filipowski and Taylor Hendricks. It remains to be seen how Kevin Love’s usage will be affected.

Utah has been fairly competitive to open the season, winning three of seven games. Two of the losses were by a combined three points.

Markkanen, George Leading Way For Jazz

Key to the Jazz being competitive in the early going have been the performances of Lauri Markkanen and Keyonte George.

Markkanen is looking a supreme scorer once again, averaging 31.1 points through seven games. He’s shooting 48 percent from the field, including 37.3 percent from three. He has also knocked down 88.7 percent of his 7.6 free-throw attempts per game.

George has proven an extremely capable ally, putting up 23.1 points, 8.1 assists and 3.7 rebounds so far. Most impressively, he has upped his two-point percentage from 44.9 last season to 54.8 percent through these seven games. Plus, he has more than doubled his free-throw attempts from 4.3 to 9.6 and knocked down 91 percent of them.

His 3-point stroke is the only ugly aspect of his game right now, shooting just 26.8 percent. George made the All-Rookie Second Tam back in 2023-24.