Jan. 18, 2026, 3:00 p.m. CT
Sitting in a virtual waiting room, OKC fans finally learned what Jalen Williams exactly sustained. The Oklahoma City Thunder had their 122-120 loss to the Miami Heat clouded over with his second-quarter injury. A day later, he’s listed with a hamstring strain on the NBA injury report.
Driving to the basket, Williams slammed the brakes. He immediately grabbed the back of his leg and asked for a substitution. The 24-year-old gently walked to the locker room. Eventually, the Thunder ruled him out with thigh soreness.
Over the last handful of games, Williams has played his best basketball of the season. He’s continued to work his way back from his surgically-repaired wrist. Now, you hope he doesn’t miss too much time with this injury. He’s out for OKC’s road game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday, Jan. 19.
Well, guess we’ll see how much time Williams misses. The Thunder will likely take a game-by-game basis with his absence. Generally speaking, you don’t want to mess with hamstring strains. They can get tricky and easily be aggregated down the road.
Williams missed OKC’s first 19 games recovering from his torn wrist ligaments that he played through in their championship run these past playoffs. They went 18-1 in that stretch to start the year.
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