How concerning is Mark Williams’ injury history?
One of the concerns about new Lakers center Mark Williams is his health. Let’s take a deeper dive into Williams’ checkered injury past.
The Los Angeles Lakers made a second trade near the deadline late Wednesday night to acquire 23-year-old center Mark Williams from the Charlotte Hornets for Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, an unprotected 2031 first round pick and a 2030 pick swap.
The trade will help fill a large roster need at center, which was left when Anthony Davis was dealt for Luka Dončić (yes, that actually happened). It will help on the defensive glass and provide a roll and lob threat for Luka and LeBron James.
The search for that type of center was reportedly spurred by conversations between Lakers’ vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka and Dončić. Those talks centered on how adding athletic, lob-catching bigs to the Dallas Mavericks - namely Daniel Gafford and Derricky Lively Jr - helped Luka’s game.
However, along with some question marks on the defensive end are the question marks on his durability and injury history. In his first three seasons, he played only 85 games while missing 127.
That, on the surface, is concerning. So, let's go underneath the surface to look closer at his injuries.
During his rookie year — most of this coming in the G League — he suffered the following injuries:
- Left ankle sprain, missed one game
- Left ankle sprain, missed 11 games
- Right thumb injury, missed six games
- Left ankle sprain, missed one game.
- Underwent thumb surgery in the off-season
The first ankle sprain was likely a grade one injury whereas the second was likely a grade two. Re-spraining the ankle isn’t uncommon after an initial one as they can come in quick succession — known as ankle sprain clusters — and re-injury risk is higher in the short term.
He sprained it again later in the season in April but only missed one game. Obviously, you don’t want another sprain, but there is two pieces of good news here: He recovered very quickly and hasn’t sprained it again since.
For his thumb, it was a contact injury that he was able to play through but then required surgery to reconstruct the ligament during the off-season. Finger and thumb injuries are always a risk, especially for bigs who are often in traffic and involved in contact, whether with other players, the ball or the rim. These are relatively common procedures and outcomes are very good. Further, he hasn’t had any issues with it since.
During his second season, he had the following injuries:
- Lower back contusion, missed one game
- Back injury, ruled out for season
This one is harder to discern. This was initially listed as a lower back contusion, meaning a deep bruise. However, what we don’t know is whether the bruise is muscular or if it’s deeper into the bone; a bone bruise, AKA microtrabecular fracture.
Based on the time he missed, my guess would be the latter as these can linger and be harder to resolve, particularly if they’re in certain areas of the bone. For example, Kendrick Nunn had a knee bone bruise that kept him out the majority of the year during his one season with the Lakers.
There’s also the possibility that this was a low back fracture, which would have had an extended timeline.
In either case, I imagine the Hornets medical staff taking a very precautionary approach, considering Williams was a key young player with a high ceiling and the high demands on the lower back, whether that’s jumping, running, rotating or landing and then doing all that through contact as well.
Of course, low back injuries are concerning, but it hasn’t popped up again this year, which is positive news. However, it is something to keep an eye on.
One key piece of information I couldn’t find is whether the injury was due to contact — which is always a risk in the NBA — or due to repetitive motion, which hints at something more nefarious.
His third season, the current 2024-25 campaign, has seen the following injuries:
- Left foot injury, missed 20 games
- Rest, missed one game
- Knee injury (no details given), no games missed
- Left foot tendon management, missed three games
The team did not specify the initial foot injury, and there have been differing reports on it. Some say a strained left foot tendon and others — like Dave Mcmenamin — say Williams had a small foot fracture that didn’t require surgery.
There could be some crossed signals here, which can happen when it comes to injury reporting, or it could have been a combination injury, which isn’t uncommon with the highly complex foot and ankle.
Given the rest period, my educated guess is that it was related to his extended time off and being reintroduced into games. It’s not uncommon to experience some soreness after returning from multiple layoffs, whether in the foot or other parts of the body.
You cannot replicate in-game demands off the court, so there’s an adaptation process. For example, Jarred Vanderbilt dealt with a sore knee in December as he ramped up following his extended layoff from two foot surgeries over the summer.
The knee injury sounds quite minor, as he only missed a couple of days. I reckon this was some very mild soreness or mild contact, which caused slight discomfort and he was held out as a precaution.
Lastly, head coach Charles Lee disclosed that his left foot tendon management was done as a precaution. The team took the long-term view with him, as they had throughout his career thus far, and it’s not unsurprising that he experienced some discomfort following previous foot injuries.
All in all, Williams has certainly dealt with a series of injuries during his young career, which gives some pause. However, in each case, it does seem that he was able to get through the injury and not have them linger into subsequent seasons.
Some of this could very well be growing pains as he’s a very large player adapting to new demands and, more recently, more playing time. That can certainly be a process.
The keys for him will be ongoing, detailed observation and management if anything comes up while continuing to get stronger and more mobile to meet the demands of the NBA.
Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT has a doctorate in physical therapy from Northern Arizona University, and runs his own in-person and online sports medicine and performance business, 3CB Performance, in West LA and Valencia, CA and partners with Quantum Performance in which he further combines his movement expertise and fitness training background to rehab & train elite athletes. He also works at a hospital — giving him experience with patients in the immediate healthcare setting and neurological patients (post stroke, post brain injury) — and has been practicing for over 5 years.
Brar is additionally training at UCLA’s mindful awareness research center (MARC), has a background in youth basketball coaching and analyzes the Lakers from a medical and skills perspective for Silver Screen and Roll and on his own YouTube Channel. You can follow him on Twitter at @3cbPerformance.