Jalen Williams Leaves Sunday's Game on a Stretcher in Brutal Blow to Thunder

There are bad injury updates, and then there are "bring out the stretcher" injury updates. Jalen Williams went down with an ankle injury on Sunday, and the visual of trainers wheeling him off the floor is enough to make any basketball fan sick to their stomach.

According to Underdog NBA, Williams was surrounded by medical staff on the court before the cart finally came out. Seeing a stretcher on a hardwood floor feels like a glitch in the matrix. You never want to speculate on the exact severity before the doctors weigh in, but stretchers in basketball usually mean we are skipping the "day-to-day" designation entirely.

"Status alert: Jalen Williams (ankle) surrounded by trainers on floor Sunday. They are bringing a stretcher out for him. (Underdog NBA)"

This is a brutal blow for an Oklahoma City Thunder team that relies heavily on his production. Williams has been a rock when on the floor, averaging 18 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.5 assists over his four seasons. He is the exact kind of two-way connector every contender spends a decade looking for.

The timing is especially cruel given his recent medical chart. Williams spent the back half of last season battling a miserable hamstring issue that lingered into the playoffs, plus a handful of wrist and hip problems before that. He finally looked clear of the trainer's room, only to end up leaving on a set of wheels.

The injury happened right in the middle of a tight Sunday night scrap with the Los Angeles Clippers. When a core guy goes down like that, the rest of the game just feels like a mandatory shootaround that nobody wants to be at.

Oklahoma City has to turn around and host the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. You can bet the oddsmakers are currently scrambling to adjust the Thunder's futures and game lines, because replacing Williams is not a one-man job.

Now we wait for the inevitable MRI results. Until then, the Thunder rotation is going to look drastically different, and the Western Conference playoff race just took a very dark turn.