{"id":921431,"date":"2026-10-09T04:32:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T04:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/921431\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T04:32:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T04:32:12","slug":"walker-kessler-injury-jj-redick-sends-clear-message-as-lakers-await-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/921431\/","title":{"rendered":"Walker Kessler injury: JJ Redick sends clear message as Lakers await debut"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Walker Kessler&#8217;s finger injury is &#8220;not concerning&#8221; and the new Lakers center will play at some point in the preseason, per JJ Redick.<\/p>\n<p>There is nothing to worry about with Walker Kessler amid the ongoing absence of the new Los Angeles Lakers big man.<\/p>\n<p>        <a class=\"article-widget__photo\" href=\"https:\/\/basketnews.com\/players\/36360-walker-kessler.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-395909-plsm.jpg\" alt=\"Walker Kessler\"\/><br \/>\n        <\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n                Position<br \/>\n                C\n            <\/p>\n<p>\n                Age<br \/>\n                25\n            <\/p>\n<p>\n                Height<br \/>\n                213 cm\n            <\/p>\n<p>\n                Weight<br \/>\n                111 kg\n            <\/p>\n<p>\n                Birth place<br \/>\n                Atlanta, United States of America\n            <\/p>\n<p>JJ Redick set the record straight about Kessler&#8217;s finger issues before the Lakers&#8217; Thursday preseason game against the Sacramento Kings.<\/p>\n<p>The Lakers coach assured that Kessler will make an appearance in the team&#8217;s remaining exhibition games ahead of the upcoming regular season.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We got to check in tomorrow, but I think it&#8217;s not concerning,&#8221; Redick told reporters in pregame.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He&#8217;ll play in the preseason.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>  Walker Kessler dealing with finger issues, has yet to play in Lakers preseason <\/p>\n<p>Walker Kessler has yet to play for the Los Angeles Lakers this preseason. The big man has already been ruled out of Thursday&#8217;s home game against the Sacramento Kings.<\/p>\n<p>Kessler hit and jammed his finger on the backboard during a Lakers practice session, which forced him to be sidelined amid anticipation for his debut with LA.<\/p>\n<p>Kessler joined the Lakers this past offseason via a blockbuster sign-and-trade deal with the Utah Jazz, inking a four-year, $130 million contract extension.<\/p>\n<p>The big man has a lot to prove this season given the costs the Lakers had to pay just to acquire him. Kessler appeared in just five games in 2025-26 after a season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.<\/p>\n<p>With Redick giving a positive statement, the Lakers can at least be calm for now regarding Kessler&#8217;s condition and availability.<\/p>\n<p>The Lakers still have two more games left to play in the preseason, facing both the Golden State Warriors and the Denver Nuggets next week.<\/p>\n<p>                                                    <a href=\"https:\/\/basketnews.com\/plus?utm_source=basketnews_com&amp;utm_medium=bn_plus&amp;utm_id=UA-259273-31&amp;utm_campaign=banners_free_content_for_not_members_bottom_6\" class=\"banners_paid_content_info_block_white banners-paid-content-info-block-white\" data-google-interstitial=\"false\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>                                                <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bn-plus-img img-fluid\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791520332_160_bn-plus.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                                            Thank you for reading us! Help us even more.<\/p>\n<p>                                                            <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                                If you like our content, please <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=basketnews.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">click here<\/a> and add us as your preferred source. It helps us a lot, and we are committed to delivering you the very latest basketball news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Walker Kessler&#8217;s finger injury is &#8220;not concerning&#8221; and the new Lakers center will play at some point in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":921432,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-921431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=921431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/921432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=921431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=921431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=921431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}