Yet Another Injury Problem For Robert Williams III

He played just six games last season in his first year with the Portland Trail Blazers, now he'll begin the 2024-25 in very familiar fashion—nursing an injury.

Robert Williams III has had a brutal time staying healthy in his young NBA career, and now is out again, this time with a Grade 1 hamstring strain.

INJURY UPDATE: Robert Williams III experienced a grade 1 left hamstring strain during training camp this week.

He is expected to miss two weeks, and his status will be updated as appropriate.
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) October 4, 2024

Fortunately, it's just a Grade 1 strain that the big man suffered at training camp this week, and he is, for now, only expected to miss two weeks. With that timeline, he might even make it back for their season opener on Oct. 23rd. But we've been down this road before with Williams, so no guarantees.

Last season, he missed 75 games with a right knee ligament tear. The year before, he sat out 47 games with the Boston Celtics, largely due to left knee surgery.

In his six NBA seasons, he's averaged less than 36 games played per campaign.

In 215 games total, he's averaged 20.5 minutes per contest, with 7.3 points and 6.9 rebounds along with 1.7 blocked shots. His per-36 minute numbers are impressive, but he's been unable to show the ability to stay healthy enough to reach his peak.