Will Hardy Reacts to Walker Kessler's Season-Ending Injury

The Utah Jazz learned less than 10 games deep into their 2025-26 campaign that they'd be without their starting center, Walker Kessler, for the remainder of the regular season due to surgery for a torn labrum.

A tough blow all around for Kessler and the Jazz as a whole, effectively taking out the team's defensive anchor in the middle and a core piece of their rebuild for the foreseeable future, and in turn, will lead to a few adjustments to be made from the mind of head coach Will Hardy moving forward.

"We'll have to protect the rim as a team, as we were doing before," Will Hardy said following Kessler's injury, via KSL.com's Ryan Miller. "Walker has never protected the rim by himself. Offensive rebounds, it's going to have to continue to be a collective effort. Perimeter guys have to crash a little bit hard from the corner."

Will Hardy Speaks on Walker Kessler's Shoulder Injury

Nov 5, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy gives instructions to his team during the first quarter of their game against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images | Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

Kessler would play five games in his fourth season onboard with the Jazz and rattle off a strong start in a limited sample size.

In those five games, Kessler averaged 14.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 3.0 assists while shooting 70.3% from the field. Defensively, he jumped out with 1.4 steals and 1.8 blocks a night.

Following the Jazz's Halloween loss vs. the Phoenix Suns, Kessler would be ruled out for additional testing on his shoulder before Utah's current five-game road trip, the same shoulder that was previously injured in the preseason, keeping him sidelined for three of four preseason games.

In those tests, the torn labrum was discovered, and now puts his hot start to a halt, with his next time on an NBA floor landing in October of 2026.

Hardy, though, isn't using the big man's injury as an excuse for what his team can do for the rest of the season. Not having Kessler on the floor is sure to hurt the Jazz's defensive upside, but injuries happen in the league, and the Jazz are no exception to that.

"It'll take a little bit of an adjustment, because Walker does have a unique size for our team," Hardy said. "But complaining is not a strategy. We have to make do with what we've got. I think these guys can do it."

It won't be easy for the Jazz to overcome the loss of Kessler and provide the presence he brings on the defensive side of the ball. But Hardy is ready to take on that challenge as he's done throughout Utah's extensive rebuild thus far.

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