Utah Jazz Lose Key Player for Rest of Season with Major Injury
Nov 6, 2025
The Utah Jazz weren’t expected to be any good this season. Their roster is one of the youngest in the NBA, and they are in full rebuild mode.
The Jazz have a nice young core with players like Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler, Ace Bailey, and even more.
While the Jazz are definitely rebuilding and heading for the lottery, they actually showed some spunk early on this season and currently sit at 3-5, the 12th seed in the Western Conference.
Unfortunately, their better-than-expected start just hit a road bump.
The Jazz’s exciting young center, Walker Kessler, is out for the rest of the year with a shoulder injury. This is the team’s official announcement on Kessler’s injury:
“SALT LAKE CITY (November 5, 2025) – The Utah Jazz announced today that center Walker Kessler will undergo surgery to repair a left shoulder labral tear.
The procedure will be performed in Los Angeles by Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Nov. 6. Following the surgery, Kessler will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season.
Kessler (7-1, 284, Auburn) appeared in five games (all starts) this season, owning averages of 14.4 points on 70.3 percent from the field, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.8 blocks in 30.8 minutes per contest.”
This is a huge blow for the Jazz. Even with a rebuild, Kessler looked like he had taken a leap this season. Having a whole year for the team to really see what he can do and how he fits with the other pieces is hugely important for the Jazz.
They no longer have that opportunity. Now the Jazz will need to look around and see if they want to give Kessler’s minutes to a proven veteran like Jusuf Nurkic or another one of their prospects.
