MINNEAPOLIS — Taylor Hendricks knows exactly what Walker Kessler will be going through over the next few months.
Kessler, who had shoulder surgery on Thursday to repair a torn left labrum, will miss the rest of the 2025-26 season. Although Hendricks’ right leg injury last season was more gruesome and traumatic, he too missed nearly the entirety of a year after surgery and recovery.
“I know all the thoughts that come with the doctor telling you that it’s over for the season,” Hendricks said on Wednesday night. “So I definitely feel for him a lot.”
Hendricks isn’t the only one on the team that knows what it’s like to be sidelined after surgery. Brice Sensabaugh, who has had a number of knee-related procedures in the past, noted the myriad ways a player will have to be intentional when the dark days of rehab creep in.
“For me, it was making sure I was around the right type of energy,” Sensabaugh said. “My parents helped with that for me — like getting sunlight, making sure I was around my team, the jokes and stuff. Because smiling and laughing is good for your heart."
Jazz head coach Will Hardy is trying to balance his care for Kessler with his care for the rest of the team and move forward with the season while also giving this moment in time the weight it deserves. It’s not an easy balance to strike, but it’s part of the job.
“He’s a really good young player and he’s worked really hard,” Hardy said. “I feel bad for Walker, obviously, first and foremost, it’s not what he expected. It’s not what we expected ... That’s not fun news to get. And then I have to remember that we have a locker room full of players who have to take the floor tonight, and they get that news too, and they’re going to have reactions to it.”
There’s a lot that the Jazz are going to have to contend with not having Kessler on the court. The fourth-year center has already established himself as one of the premier rim protectors in the NBA and one of the league’s best rebounders, so when it comes to paint protection the Jazz are going to have their work cut out for them to say the least.
The Jazz will have Jusuf Nurkić and Kevin Love available to fill in as best they can, and they also have small-ball five options with Hendricks and Kyle Filipowski, but Kessler leaves massive shoes to fill. For many on the Jazz, Kessler’s absence serves as a great reason to focus even more on the defensive side of the ball.
“There’s a lot of things that Walker does that nobody can replace,” Lauri Markkanen said. “We’ve got to go with the guys we have and it’s more responsibility for everybody to guard the ball better, not rely on Walker blocking shots down there so much. So we’re trying to take it as a learning opportunity to guard the ball better.”
The Jazz players have had a few days to come to terms with what life is going to look like moving forward without Kessler, but ultimately they are just hurting for Kessler right now.
“It sucks,” Markkanen said. “No other way around it. It sucks for him — he wants to be out there, he wants to help the team — and obviously sucks to not have him out there, helping us as well."