It’s more noticeable in this picture
“I went up for a pass playing American football and dislocated it,” Washington told Norton. “I had it rebuilt…but it’s like a gummy bear in there”.
The finger never set correctly. It is still crooked to this day, bent at the bottom knuckle and a full 45 degrees outwards from Washington’s other fingers. Ouch.
Here he is collecting an award
Still, Denzel’s cool about it now: today he calls the crooked pinky his ‘magic finger’. It’s certainly brought him a lot of luck.