Jackson Hayes reveals injury status for LA’s season opener against Warriors

LOS ANGELES – During Los Angeles Lakers‘ 117-116 loss to Sacramento Kings during final preseason game, backup big man Jackson Hayes was out early after suffering a wrist injury. after the game Lakers coach JJ Redick revealed that the x-rays were negative, but that he won’t have a definitive update until practice over the weekend.

After the Lakers’ practice on Sunday, Jackson Hayes beat Redick in goal, revealing his injury status for Tuesday night’s season opener against the Golden State Warriors.

“I’m fine, it was a little sprained ankle, but I’ll be good for Tuesday,” Hayes said. “I just fell and tried to catch myself and messed up this little sprain. Being the dumbass I am, I shouldn’t have tried to catch myself, I should have fallen. It’s natural for me to do that, but it’s not a good thing. Nine times out of ten you’re going to hurt your wrist if you try to catch yourself falling.”

Hayes originally suffered an injury after he caught a lob pass by Luka Doncic and was fouled on the play resulting in an and-one. Due to injury, he missed a free throw badly and was sent off after halftime. Last season, Hayes developed strong chemistry with Doncic in the pick-and-roll as a lob threat.

Luka Dončić lob.
Jackson Hayes slam.

Thunderous alley-oop with a pick-and-roll ‼ pic.twitter.com/me2BKS3Kmgm

— NBA (@NBA) October 18, 2025

Hayes filled in well as the Lakers’ starting center after the Anthony Davis trade, but ended up being benched in the playoffs after Redick opted to go with a smaller lineup during the team’s first-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The way things ended last season, it was a little surprising that Hayes returned to the Lakers, but the seven-year veteran has decided to re-sign with the organization on a one-year deal. Hayes cited conversations with Redick as a deciding factor in his decision to return.

“Me and JJ had a bunch of conversations, we talked about it, we obviously went through it, obviously I’m going to support him no matter what. It’s actually more of a chip on my shoulder than anything else,” Hayes said. “He just told me he was sorry, and that’s what he wanted to do. That’s the lineup that everybody was talking about, the coaches were talking about. I respected that.”

In his time as a starter last season, Hayes appeared in 35 games and averaged 7.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists on 72.9 percent shooting from the field and 55.6 percent from the free throw line.