Utah Jazz big man Walker Kessler will be out for the remainder of the regular season as he remains under concussion protocol, per Tony Jones of The Athletic.
In pregame of their Tuesday showcase against the L.A. Lakers, coach Will Hardy already noted that he expects the rookie to be out for the rest of 22-23.
“In true Walker fashion, he apologized to me for getting a concussion,” Hardy hilariously said of Kessler, via Ryan Miller of KSL.
Kessler entered the concussion protocols Sunday after taking an accidental hard elbow from his teammate in Talen-Horton Tucker in a recent loss against the Brooklyn Nets. From there, there were reports already that he is likely done for the regular season, as the Jazz only got four games left to their season and is set to likely bow down on the Western Conference’s tight play-in race.
If indeed this is it for Kessler, he managed to post a solid impression in his rookie year. Utah’s prized acquisition from the Rudy Gobert package has been splendid and developing well, averaging 9.2 boards and 8.2 boards, while holding the top-rated shooting throughout the league with 72 percent and fourth-ranked 2.3 blocks per game.
