Optimism in Salt Lake City took a major blow. The Utah Jazz announced Wednesday that center Walker Kessler will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 NBA season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
Kessler started Utah's first five games of the season and was initially sidelined with bursitis in his left shoulder.
But upon further evaluation, it turned out the injury was much more serious than initially thought.
The 23-year-old big man is in his breakout phase. In five games, he averaged 14.4 points, shot 70.3% from the field, and grabbed 10.8 rebounds. More importantly, he quickly became one of the NBA's most promising rim protectors.
We announced today that center Walker Kessler will undergo surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
The surgery will be performed on November 6 in Los Angeles by Dr. Neal ElAttrache. After surgery, Kessler will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season.
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— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) November 5, 2025
“He's having the best season of his career,” a team official told NBC Sports' Kurt Herring. “It's tough because he's taken a real step forward on both sides of the ball.”
The injury couldn't come at a worse time for Kessler, who will be a restricted free agent this upcoming offseason.
“There will still be teams interested in the big man, but that won't help him win the contract he hopes to get,” Herring wrote.
Kessler’s journey was anything but ordinary. He was drafted 22nd overall in 2022, was traded twice before playing professionally, and ended up in Utah as part of the blockbuster deal that sent Rudy Gobert to Minnesota. These are holes that need to be filled, but Kessler's performance gives Jazz fans real hope that another defensive cornerstone is emerging.
With Kessler sidelined, the Jazz are expected to rely more on Jusuf Nurkic, rookie Kyle Filipovski and veteran Kevin Love to fill the void in the frontcourt.
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