Please give the Dallas Mavericks fan in your life a hug right now.
After dominating the first half in historic fashion during his first game with the Mavs, star forward Anthony Davis left the game in the third quarter with an apparent injury. He did not return to the game, and Davis said the injury was "not serious" in a postgame press conference, but now it has been reported by Shams Charania of ESPN that Davis will miss "multiple weeks" and that his "absence could stretch to a month."
Dallas Mavericks star Anthony Davis is expected to miss multiple weeks with a left adductor strain, sources tell ESPN. His absence could stretch to a month. pic.twitter.com/WnZUuqZKrw
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 10, 2025
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The last thing Davis and the Mavericks wanted to hear
This sucks — there's no way around it. Davis had finally started to shed the "injury-prone" tag he was labeled with early in his career after two healthy seasons in LA. Hopefully Davis comes back in full health and can provide Dallas the two-way brilliance we saw from him yesterday versus Houston.
Davis was clearly emotional in his first game with Dallas, shouting "I'm here!" to Mavs fans early in the game after a monster dunk. These are the moments when it's important to remember the human element of the NBA; Davis just got traded without being told and had to uproot his life to move across the country to start a job with a brand new team. Getting the news that he'll miss at least a few weeks has to be a pretty tough blow.
The Mavericks are currently 28-25, in the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. On the (small) bright side, the West is such a mess that Dallas really just needs to stay above water while AD is out, and they'll stay right in the midst of the playoff race.