By Floyd Barber
January 29, 2025
The Atlanta Hawks will be without one of their standout players for the rest of the season.
Forward Jalen Johnson will have surgery on a left shoulder injury he suffered in last Thursday’s 122-119 loss to the Toronto Raptors, the team announced today. Johnson was injured when he fouled Scottie Barnes in the second quarter. He left the court immediately and did not return to that game and was battling right shoulder inflammation entering the game vs. Toronto.
Johnson, in his fourth NBA season, was enjoying a career-best campaign with career highs in scoring (18.9 ppg), rebounding (10 rpg) and assists (5 apg) while also contributing 1.6 steals per game and shooting 50% overall and 31.2% on 3-pointers.
The 20th pick in the 2021 Draft out of Duke, Johnson broke out last season with career highs across the board, including points (16.0 per game), rebounds (8.7), assists (3.6), steals (1.2) and blocks (0.8).
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