{"id":64488,"date":"2025-11-25T15:52:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T15:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/64488\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T15:52:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T15:52:19","slug":"how-close-is-mavericks-anthony-davis-to-a-return-from-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/64488\/","title":{"rendered":"How close is Mavericks\u2019 Anthony Davis to a return from injury?"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI \u2014 The Mavericks<\/a> knew they would be without Kyrie Irving entering this season, but losing Anthony Davis<\/a> for nearly a month only five games in wasn\u2019t on their bingo card.<\/p>\n

The 10-time All-Star\u2019s absence has factored into Dallas\u2019 disappointing start as it sits 13th in the Western Conference with the second-most difficult remaining schedule in the NBA.<\/p>\n

Davis has been out of the lineup since suffering a left calf strain against the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 29. His status with the team was already under a microscope, given his injury history, but the firing of Nico Harrison placed a spotlight on Davis\u2019 future in Dallas.<\/p>\n

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After eight missed games, the Mavericks issued a medical update last Sunday that revealed Davis was making \u201cgood progress,\u201d but would be sidelined an additional seven to 10 days before being reevaluated.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Mavericks big man was upgraded to doubtful for Monday\u2019s game against the Miami Heat, a sign of progress as he nears the end of his reassessment timeframe Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s working to get back,\u201d Kidd said during his pregame news conference. \u201cWe anticipate him at practice this week. I think any time with a calf strain, you have to be cautious, but he\u2019s worked extremely hard. The next step is practice on Wednesday, and we\u2019ll see what happens after that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mavericks have taken a cautious approach with Davis because calf strains, no matter how mild, can lead to more severe injuries, such as an Achilles tear. Indiana\u2019s Tyrese Haliburton, Portland\u2019s Damian Lillard and Boston\u2019s Jayson Tatum all tore their Achilles tendon during last season\u2019s playoffs after suffering calf strains.<\/p>\n

Davis was questionable for the Pacers game with bilateral Achilles tendinopathy and left the game in the first quarter because of lower leg soreness. An MRI revealed Davis\u2019 calf strain.<\/p>\n

Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont has been involved in several conversations about Davis\u2019 injury, showing he\u2019s taken a more active role even before Harrison\u2019s firing.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s natural for the Mavericks to want to protect their best player, especially after he paid the price of returning early from an abdominal injury during his team debut in February. Davis strained his adductor after 2 1\u20442 dominant quarters<\/a> and missed 18 games until his late-season return to help the Mavericks reach the play-in tournament.<\/p>\n

A premature return that led Davis to reaggravate the calf strain, or worse, would be catastrophic for the Mavericks and the 32-year-old, who has a documented history with injuries. He\u2019s played more than 60 games in a season only once since 2019-20, when he won a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers. He has appeared in 14 out of a possible 51 games for the Mavericks.<\/p>\n

For context, that\u2019s fewer than Cooper Flagg<\/a>, who played his 18th game in the NBA on Monday.<\/p>\n

Minority shareholder Mark Cuban said the Mavericks won\u2019t look to trade Davis<\/a> despite speculation around his future with the franchise. After being away from basketball operations since selling the team in 2023, Cuban has been advising the team<\/a> along with co-general managers Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley while the Mavericks search for a full-time replacement.<\/p>\n

Whether the Mavericks continue to try to win with Davis, as Cuban said, or pivot to build around their 18-year-old rookie before the Feb. 5 trade deadline, they need the big man to return to the court and stay healthy. <\/p>\n

He was averaging a double-double of 20.8 points and 10.2 rebounds prior to the injury. Any semblance of that production will give the Mavericks a greater chance of reaping maximum value.<\/p>\n

Davis missed his 14th consecutive game Monday, with only four more absences needed until he\u2019s disqualified from the NBA\u2019s minimum requirement of 65 games to remain eligible for postseason awards, such as All-NBA teams and Defensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

As Kidd mentioned, Wednesday\u2019s practice in Dallas marks a key benchmark in Davis\u2019 recovery. It could set the stage for a long-anticipated return Friday, not just to the lineup, but to Los Angeles, where he hasn\u2019t played since being traded for Luka Doncic.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Doncic is a legitimate MVP candidate averaging 34.5 points, 8.8 rebounds and 8.9 assists, with the Lakers second in the West.<\/p>\n

It would be quite the sight for fans of both teams to see Davis on the bench, watching his former team, while Doncic is on the court, healthy and playing well.<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/a>Mavericks lose to Heat as late-game execution stings Dallas in another close game<\/a><\/p>\n

PJ Washington committed a costly turnover in the final minute and missed two potentially game-winning three-point attempts.<\/p>\n

\"Mavericks<\/a>Luka Doncic, Cowboys fanatic: Mavericks star details how he learned to love football<\/a><\/p>\n

Since Cowboys owner Jerry Jones invited him to their home opener his first year in Dallas, Doncic has become a legitimate fan of the franchise and the sport.<\/p>\n

Find more Mavericks coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI \u2014 The Mavericks knew they would be without Kyrie Irving entering this season, but losing Anthony Davis…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[4643,4642,102,104,2582,103,4280,4641,4646,4975,4281,3080,6468,154],"class_list":{"0":"post-64488","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-anthony-davis","9":"tag-cooper-flagg","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-dallas-headlines","12":"tag-dallas-mavericks","13":"tag-dallas-news","14":"tag-jason-kidd","15":"tag-kyrie-irving","16":"tag-luka-doncic","17":"tag-mark-cuban","18":"tag-mavericks","19":"tag-nba","20":"tag-patrick-dumont","21":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}