Thunder Release Jalen Williams Medical Update

It sounds odd, but Oklahoma City Thunder fans were offered a glimmer of hope by way of an official press release announcing Jalen Williams' possible season ending surgery.

Key word: possible.

As in, cue the Dumb and Dumber "So you're telling me there's a chance" gif. Of course, nobody knows what the future has in store for OKC's All-NBA forward in terms of healing, recovery and rehab. But the exact wording of the team's medical update invited just a bit of encouragement that it's possible Williams may return for a potential Thunder playoff run.

The highly anticipated official update was released at 6:15PM central time. It started out the way press releases typically begin. The who, what and when.

"Oklahoma City Thunder guard/forward Jalen Williams underwent a successful procedure today to address a fractured left fibula and reconstruction of ankle ligaments following a fracture and dislocation."

As per the usual, the performing surgeon is given his credit and kudos.

"The surgery was performed by Dr. Martin O’Malley at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City with Thunder medical personnel present."

But it's the final sentence in the update that had Thunder social media spamming those Jim Carrey gifs as well as a plethora of Avengers "Don't give me hope" memes.

"Williams will be re-evaluated prior to the end of the 2026-27 regular season."

Prior to the end of the regular season. Not season ending, as most OKC fans had mostly come to fear and expect.

It doesn't necessarily mean anything as far as the odds of Williams returning for the playoffs. The season finale is nearly six months away. There is no way of predicting how any athlete will respond and recover to any injury, much less to one of this particular severity. It's probably best to not expect to see Williams return this season.

After all, of course the Thunder are going to re-evaluate Williams prior to the end of the regular season. If there's even a sliver of a possibility their second best player heals in time for a run at another title, they need to leave the door open. Maybe not even wide open. Just cracked, even. Ultimately, the team did not shut the door and announce Williams' season as finished.

So you'll have to understand if every OKC fan leaned into their inner Lloyd Christmas. As he says, even one in a million is still a chance.