Jaren Jackson Jr. Insisted on Playing for Jazz Fans Before Shutdown

Utah Jazz fans were hit with a surprising news development across this past week regarding their trade deadline acquisition of Jaren Jackson Jr., who has since been ruled out for the remainder of the 2025-26 NBA season due to surgery on his left knee to address a PVNS growth.

The injury effectively ends Jackson Jr.'s first season with the Jazz after just three games of action; a short and sweet sample size of the team's newest big man before he would be shut down for the season, to now looking ahead to next October to get his next chance on the floor for Utah.

But it looks like there might've been a push for the Jazz internally to not let Jackson Jr. play at all following the diagnosis surrounding his knee, though the big man would decide differently.

According to NBA insider Tony Jones of The Athletic, Jackson Jr.'s injury popped up after the Jazz made their big swing with the Memphis Grizzlies. But before his season would come to an end due to that surgery to take place during the All-Star break, he wanted to play at least one game in front of Utah's home fans.

"It popped up afterwards," Jones said of Jackson Jr.'s injury via KSL Sports Zone. "I will say that there was sentiment to not let him play at all, but Jaren wanted to play because he wanted to play in front of the home fans before the surgery."

"The irony of this is–– let's take out Lauri Markkanen, because that part is what it is–– but everybody who was taking to Twitter, taking to social media, 'Oh my God, there's sitting Jaren Jackson in the fourth quarter,' Jaren Jackson was on a 25-minute restriction all three of those games... He wasn't going to play in the fourth quarter if these guys were San Antonio."

Jaren Jackson Jr. Pushed to Play for Jazz Despite Knee Injury

The diagnosis regarding Jackson Jr.'s status and his knee came during a post-trade physical conducted by the Jazz, revealing that a benign tumor would need to be surgically addressed at some point in the near future to prevent further issues.

There's a chance that if the Jazz were making a push to the postseason, Jackson Jr. could play through that issue and get surgery in the offseason to get ready for next year. But rather than tacking on that extra and unnecessary risk, he and Utah are getting ahead of it by doing the surgery now rather than putting anything off.

Before that, though, Jackson Jr. wanted to get at least one taste of what it's like playing in front of the Jazz home crowd, something he was able to do for a short stint against the Sacramento Kings, and one where Utah also claimed a dominant 121-93 win in the process.

Feb 9, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Utah Jazz forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (20) reacts against the Miami Heat during the first quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Therefore, Jackson Jr. was able to check that box off his Jazz wish list, along with a couple of other appearances on the team's latest road trip, and can now focus on his surgery and getting right for next season. As for Utah, they'll be forced to press forward without the two-time All-Star for the remaining stretch of the season following the All-Star break.

But based on the short stint that Jackson Jr. was on the floor for the Jazz, he certainly offered some optimism for what his fit could look like in Utah's frontcourt further down the line, and especially so once paired next to a fully healthy tandem of Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler.

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