NBA: Jazz guard Vince Williams Jr. has torn ACL, out for season – report

Utah Jazz guard Vince Williams Jr. will miss the rest of the season after suffering a torn ACL in his left knee, ESPN reported. Williams underwent an MRI on Tuesday following an injury sustained during Monday’s game against the Houston Rockets.

The 25-year-old was hurt in a collision with Houston forward Tari Eason early in the second quarter of the Rockets’ 125-105 victory. According to reports, Eason delivered a hip-check push while both players were running a fast break. Williams’ knee bent awkwardly as he fell out of bounds near the Utah bench, the Deseret News reported.

“That’s not basketball,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said after the game.

Williams recorded one point, three rebounds, one assist, and one steal in eight minutes before leaving the game. He later exited the arena on crutches. Eason visited the Jazz locker room afterward to check on Williams.

“I’ve known Vince for a little bit and he’s just a really good dude, hard-working dude,” Eason told the Deseret News. “It was just respect. I’ve got a lot of respect for him, and I know it’s his contract year. I didn’t intend on doing anything. My intentions are always just to play hard. I went to check on him and apologize. Obviously, it doesn’t help, but I wanted to let him know I’m sorry. Nobody’s trying to hurt anybody.”

Jazz guard Keyonte George said he was “devastated for Vince.”

“Everybody’s gonna have their own opinion about the play, but you can’t really look into it too much,” George said, according to the Deseret News. “These plays happen just running down the floor … it was honestly a freak accident.”

Since being traded from the Memphis Grizzlies on Feb. 3, Williams had appeared in six games for Utah, averaging 4.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 14 minutes per game. With Memphis this season, he averaged 8.0 points, 4.4 assists, 4.0 rebounds, and 21.6 minutes over 34 games (12 starts).

Selected by Memphis in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft out of VCU, Williams has averaged 7.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.0 assists in 21.3 minutes across 134 career games (51 starts) since the 2022-23 season.

—Field Level Media/Reuters