Utah Jazz Share New Update on Ace Bailey's Lingering Injury

The Utah Jazz have been without their top-five pick, Ace Bailey, for seven of their past eight regular-season games, as he's been dealing with a lingering injury that the team has labeled a left hip flexor strain, and thus limited his availability in the past couple of weeks because of it.

And according to Jazz head coach Will Hardy, it still seems like Bailey's injury is still one that could affect him for the next few days.

Hardy spoke about Bailey's injury status before taking on the Charlotte Hornets, noting that he's currently day-to-day, and working "really hard" behind the scenes, but still has a long way to go.

“Yeah, it's still day to day," Hardy said of Ace Bailey's injury, via Andy Bailey of The Salt Lake Tribune. "You know, he felt like he could go in OKC, and then after his first two shifts, we didn't love how he looked moving, he didn't love how he felt, and so we don't want to put him in a position that hurts him. So we're taking it day by day. He's working really hard. He was on the court today. Still got a long way to go.”

Will Hardy on Ace Bailey’s hip injury: “Yeah, it's still day to day. You know, he felt like he could go in OKC, and then after his first two shifts, we didn't love how he looked moving, he didn't love how he felt, and so we don't want to put him in a position that hurts him.”
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) January 11, 2026

Ace Bailey Has "A Long Way To Go" With Hip Injury

Rather than pushing their top-five rookie on the floor quicker than necessary, the Jazz are taking a safer approach when it comes to bringing Bailey back from his nagging injury. He'll be out of the mix against Charlotte, which takes him out for Utah's latest two-game home stretch, and could leave him out for a bit of time moving forward into their upcoming five-game road trip.

Bailey did return for a brief 10-minute span against the Oklahoma City Thunder this past week before he would ultimately be held out down the stretch, and now, he'll likely be back to the sidelines for the next handful of games.

In the 31 games he's been healthy for the Jazz this season, Bailey has averaged 10.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.5 assists while shooting 43.7% from the field and 35.2% from three— one of just four players on the roster to average over 10 points per game— and has shown some quality flashes during his initial sample size for his rookie campaign.

Dec 23, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz forward Ace Bailey (19) reacts to a call during the second half against the Memphis Grizzlies at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Peter Creveling-Imagn Images | Peter Creveling-Imagn Images

Without Bailey on the wing, expect to continue to see more opportunities for guys like Brice Sensabaugh, who's consistently started in his place since being ruled out with a hip injury, and potentially other young wings on the roster like second-year forward Cody Williams, who made his first start of the season against the Dallas Mavericks.

In due time, Bailey will make his way back to the floor for the Jazz. But clearly, the staff doesn't appear to be urging him to rush back any quicker than he needs to.

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