Lakers' Jarred Vanderbilt Suffered Gruesome Injury in Game 1 Loss

Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt was in obvious pain after a block attempt on Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren during the second quarter of Tuesday night’s Game 1 matchup.

Vanderbilt yelled out in pain and held his right hand as he made his way over to the Thunder bench, where several OKC players were visibly disturbed by the sight of the injury.

Vanderbilt suffered a full dislocation of his right pinkie finger. He needed stitches after the game because the bone broke skin, according to a report from ESPN Lakers insider Dave McMenamin.

Lakers coach JJ Redick discussed the injury during his postgame press conference.

“I had to go check on him because it just looked bad,” Redick said. “I mean, he was audibly screaming, and you knew he had done something. So, we’re obviously disappointed that happened. It’s just a freak injury.”

Redick said Vanderbilt is in “good of spirits as you can be,” but acknowledged that he’s “frustrated with what happened.”

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The Lakers fell with a 108-90 final score in Game 1, surrendering an 0-1 series deficit to the reigning NBA champions. LeBron James led the way for Los Angeles with a game-high 27 points on 12/17 shooting from the field and 3/6 shooting from behind the 3-point arc, but it wasn’t enough to mount an upset on the road.

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“He’s tough as nails,” James said of Vanderbilt. “If Vando was in pain, then something actually really happened. So, it sucks.”

Game 2 will tipoff at 9:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.

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This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 12:26 PM.