It makes complete sense that the vast majority of OKC Thunder players would hesitate to speak about the gruesome ankle injury Jalen Williams sustained on Sunday night.
From them visibly trying to regain their composure on the hardwood after he was stretchered off the court to their post-game press conference being pushed back while they commiserated in the locker room, emotions were clearly running high in the injury's aftermath.
Heroically, however, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander stepped up in a subtle yet vital way directly after Oklahoma City closed out their 108-101 win over the Clippers, as he joined Nick Gallo for an on-court interview despite fighting back tears to, in a way, allow his teammates to gather their own composure off the screen.
SGA leading by example as Thunder try to push forward
With misty eyes, the Thunder cornerstone found the strength to vocalize his feelings on the matter, saying, "I just feel bad for him." Of course, he made sure to keep the interview going by telling Gallo to "Go on," following up by saying, "We have no choice" but to push forward, with Williams likely now set to be shut down for the foreseeable future.
Minutes later, he would be the first of two Thunder teammates to take to the post-game presser podium to field and answer questions from the media, largely about Williams' health. Though undoubtedly somber in tone and demeanor, Shai sat there and took part in "What we signed up for" as OKC players for its entirety.
Needless to say, SGA's not only talking the talk about the importance of pushing through despite this recent adversity, but he's clearly also walking the walk, leading the way for the rest of the Thunder to follow.
Thunder star feared to have suffered 'ankle fracture dislocation'
Though there may not be any official word on what kind of injury Jalen Williams sustained, Dr. Brian Sutterer seems to be under the early impression that he may have suffered an "ankle fracture dislocation."
Should this ultimately prove to be the case, the Sports Medicine MD has revealed that the recovery timeline could realistically result in an "extensive, multi-month" absence for the All-Star, even suggesting that, though it's possible he could make his way back, J-Dub could end up being shelved for the season.
Sutterer compared the looks of this injury to that of Gordon Hayward's back in 2017 while a member of the Boston Celtics. It's worth noting that he didn't make his return to action until a full year later.
It goes without saying that this outlook from Sutterer is quite grim on its own. However, when considering how hard he had been working this offseason to put last year's injury-plagued season behind him -- one that held him to just 33 games and had him looking like a mere shell of himself -- this unofficial diagnosis becomes even more gut-wrenching.
Add us as a preferred source on Google