Utah Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a fractured right fibula and dislocated ankle in his team’s 110-102 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. The Jazz confirmed that the gruesome looking injury would sideline the 20 year old for the year, but stopped short of providing any further updates, stating that they would be provided “when appropriate”.
Hendricks needed to be stretchered off the court following what appeared to be a non-contact injury midway through the 3rd quarter.
“That’s hard to stomach,” head coach Will Hardy said of Hendricks’ injury. “He’s put in a lot of hard work. He’s a great kid, and so we’re really just trying to focus on him, his health, keeping him up, his spirits up as he begins the road of his recovery. But these are the moments in sports that suck.”
The 6’9″ forward was Utah’s 1st round selection (9th overall) out of UCF back in 2023. Across 3 games this season Hendricks has averaged 4.7pts/5reb/0.7ast in 25 minutes of action per night. The versatile wing was a key piece of Utah’s defensive rotation, as he regularly drew tough matchups against the opponent’s top scorers.
“Super unfortunate,” said Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen after the game. “We’re all here for him. It sucks that we lost, but he’s more important than that. We know how hard he worked the whole summer to be ready for this opportunity, so it sure feels tough for him. We’re going to stay here for him and support him.”
“We talk about fighting through adversity, whatever it is. Tonight it happened to be that. Nobody can do it alone, so it’s staying together and trying to work through it and not giving up.”
The 0-3 Jazz will need to regroup quickly as the Sacramento Kings come to town for a Western Conference showdown at the Delta Center Tuesday evening.