Anthony Davis injury update twists knife further into Mavericks' disastrous start

On Sunday evening, the Dallas Mavericks announced that Anthony Davis will be re-evaluated to return from his left calf strain in seven to 10 days. Something seemed like it was going on as soon as he was listed as doubtful for tonight's game after being listed as questionable for the previous few games, and the doctors must not have liked what they saw over the weekend.

Davis had an appointment to get his calf checked out on Saturday, but they ultimately determined that he isn't ready to come back just yet.

"He wants to play, he’s doing everything to get back, and so I think looking at his appointment yesterday and seeing that it’s gonna take another seven to 10 days," Kidd said before Sunday night's game. "Not trying to speak for him, but he wants to be out there to help us, but this gives him seven to 10 days to get better or to get stronger, and hopefully in seven to 10 days he’s back on the floor."

Anthony Davis is guaranteed to miss even more time

Heading into tonight's game against the Portland Trail Blazers, Davis has already missed the last eight games, and the Portland game will be the ninth game in a row that he has missed. This is beginning to become concerning, as Jason Kidd stated Davis tried to return on the October 29 game against the Indiana Pacers in which he got injured, and Dallas' season is slowly starting to fall apart before it truly even begins.

Long before the 2025-26 season began, it was obvious that Davis' health was going to be a major swing factor for the beginning of the season with Kyrie Irving sidelined, and through 13 games, it has not swung in their direction. Davis has missed eight of the first 13 games, and it only took him five games to get injured.

Davis was out for a decent chunk of the offseason since he had to undergo eye surgery, and this is likely part of the reason that he entered the season at a higher playing weight than usual. Conditioning struggles were evident when watching his performance through these first five games, and his conditioning and higher playing weight could've even been part of the reason that he strained his calf.

In the game in which he got injured, Davis was questionable due to bilateral Achilles tendinopathy, but the Mavericks ultimately decided to play him. It didn't take him long to get injured, as he subbed himself out of the game in the first quarter of that game.

He hasn't played since, and with this new re-evaluation timeline, he is set to miss at least the next five games (including Sunday night's game against the Portland Trail Blazers). The earliest that he can return is next Monday's game against the Miami Heat on November 24, which is exactly eight days from today, but the safest route may be to wait even longer.

After that game against Miami, Dallas has another three days off before they play the Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers on November 28 and 29, and it seems more probable that they'd give him a few more days off before he makes his return.

If Davis returns for the Lakers game on November 28, this would mean that he would've missed over four weeks (14 games) with this calf strain, and his return to the floor will all depend on receiving medical test results that reveal that there is no risk of him getting re-injured. Patrick Dumont has inserted himself into the decision-making process for Davis' return to the floor, and he was part of the group that ultimately overruled his push to play on November 8.

Davis and his camp felt that he was ready to return in this game against the Washington Wizards, but the Mavericks' medical staff pushed for him not to play due to the risk of him tearing his Achilles. Despite this risk, Nico Harrison pushed for him to play in this game as well as the following game, but Dumont and company weren't about to let that happen.

Dumont and the Mavericks are taking the slow approach to Davis' return to the floor, and his recovery timeline getting stretched even longer is the worst thing that could've happened when it comes to Dallas getting back on track. This isn't to say that the Mavericks should rush him back by any means, but every game he misses and Dallas loses will make it even harder for them to make a push for the playoff spot.

The Mavericks can't afford to fall any further back in the standings if they want to make the postseason, and they are getting dangerously close to having to chalk this season up as a loss.