Lakers' Jarred Vanderbilt suffers gruesome finger injury vs Thunder
Jarred Vanderbilt suffered a right hand injury in the second quarter of Game 1 of the playoff series between the LA Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder.
The injury luck for the Los Angeles Lakers , somehow, just got worse. Backup forward Jarred Vanderbilt suffered a right hand injury on Tuesday, May 5 during the second quarter of Los Angeles’ conference semifinal game against the Oklahoma City Thunder . The injury took place with 5:51 left in the first half, when Vanderbilt’s fingers swiped against the left side of the backboard as he attempted to block a shot by Thunder center Chet Holmgren.
As soon as Vanderbilt made contact into the padding, he went down to the court in visible discomfort and was yelling as he was grabbing his hand. pic. twitter.
com/JqH86uzL8B — Follow: @PurpGoldLakers (@PGMediaaa) May 6, 2026 The NBC broadcast reported the injury was “gruesome” and indicated that Lakers trainers had to put a towel over it to conceal the injury. In fact, the NBC broadcast showed the moment when it happened, and the Oklahoma City bench had a visible reaction when players got a closer look at Vanderbilt’s hand as he was being ushered off the floor. Look at the Thunders reaction to Vando’s injury.
pic. twitter. com/KknAV1Yg2e — Showtime Luka (@showtimeluka) May 6, 2026 The Lakers ruled Vanderbilt out for the rest of the game.