Tough Day For Thunder, Losing 3 Players To Season-Ending Surgery

The Oklahoma City Thunder lost a trio of players today for the balance of the season. The most prominent, who's had a breakout year in his third season in the NBA, is small forward Luguentz Dort. He underwent surgery today to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. 

The Thunder say Lu Dort had a season-ending procedure today to address a labrum tear in his left shoulder.

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) March 8, 2022

Dort has been out for 9 games with what had been called a "shoulder strain", but the team obviously received the unfortunate news on the injury today, and made the decision to immediately undergo the season-ending procedure. 

In Dort's last 6 games of the season, through the first half of February, he was averaging 23.3 points a game, while shooting threes at a 37.5% clip. Overall, he finishes the season averaging 17.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists.

The Canadian-born 6'3" small forward is only one of three players the Thunder announced today who have undergone season-ending surgical procedures.

Thunder announce season-ending surgeries for Lu Dort and Mike Muscala, and announce guard Ty Jerome (sports hernia procedure) will be out eight weeks: pic.twitter.com/2unGczvIMS

— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) March 8, 2022

Center Mike Muscala had arthroscopic surgery for a ligament in his ankle, while guard Ty Jerome had a sports hernia procedure. All three are expected to be ready for the beginning of the 2022-23 season.

Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports