Anthony Davis' surprise surgery just opened a can of worms Mavericks fans will hate

After straining his adductor on February 8 versus the Houston Rockets, many Dallas Mavericks fans thought Anthony Davis had played his last basketball of the season, but Davis came back and fought valiantly amidst Kyrie Irving and others being out of the lineup once he returned for the final stretch of the season. As far as fans and analysts know, Davis never required surgery for his adductor this offseason, but he reportedly underwent a procedure to repair a detached retina recently, as Davis suffered multiple hits to the head this season.

While Davis' eye is expected to heal fully before training camp, and it's not an injury that will require much rehab, Davis getting hurt ahead of training camp isn't the best thing that could've happened to the Mavericks, given his track record at some of his previous stops.

This was dug up by Dallas Hoops Journal's Grant Afseth, as Afseth talked to sources from some of Davis' previous stops, and they expressed discontent in regard to when he starts his offseason training program, as it's only been one month before training camp in past instances supposedly, which could've played a factor in Davis' body not being adequately prepared to handle a rigorous 82-game season.

Davis' old offseason habits could get amplified by his recent surgery

According to Afseth, Davis even had an early career disinterest in resistance work, which could've also played a role in some of the lower body injuries he's suffered throughout his career. Of course, these reports only prompt more concern in regard to Davis' return to play this training camp.

Could Davis start his offseason training program even less than a month before training camp, given his recent surgery? Will this prompt Davis not to be in elite shape once the season starts? These are the type of questions Mavericks fans will naturally have until Davis and the Mavericks start the season, and they are certainly valid questions given Davis' injury history, especially if Afseth's reports are true.

Hopefully, Davis doesn't suffer any setbacks ahead of training camp, and it wouldn't be surprising if he's shifted his mindset in regard to doing resistance work at this stage in his career, but Mavericks fans and media shouldn't turn a blind eye to what he has going on this offseason, as there are gigantic stakes involved in terms of Davis playing often and efficiently for the Mavericks next season after the way last season ended following the Luka Doncic-Davis swap.

As Mavericks fans have grown far too accustomed to with all the injuries the team dealt with over the back-half of the season, correlation doesn't always imply causation when it comes to any injury, but if Davis gets hurt early in the season on a non-contact play or something like that, it wouldn't be surprising if him not being able to ramp his body up fully during the offseason was a factor in that process.

All in all, Davis' eye injury won't require layers of restrictions before he can return to full five-on-five work, and some of these reports from Afseth could be more reflective of Davis' younger days, as Davis has proven to be nothing but a pure competitor and someone who wants to be on the court at all times since he's been a Maverick. While fans shouldn't lose any sleep over this, it's something to keep on the back burner if things were to go terribly wrong for Davis early into next season, but hopefully that's not the case.