Mavericks remain undefeated with Anthony Davis in lineup after beating Chicago

Bobby Marks: Dallas is now 4-0 when Anthony Davis plays. They move into 9th place in the West. -via Twitter @BobbyMarks42 / March 29, 2025

What have your conversations with Kyrie been like since he suffered his season-ending ACL tear? Anthony Davis: In basketball, man, s— happens. [It’s] Kind of been going around the league, not even just the league but in sports in general, freakish injuries. I saw [Irving’s] play. Once he stepped in, he went down for a split second. The first thing I thought was, ‘Please, don’t let it be his ACL.’ And I went to go check on him, and he said it right then and there. I was like, ‘[expletive] .’ I could just tell how it was. We went from that to Gaff [Gafford] with his knee, Ex [Exum] with his hand, and O-Max [Prosper] with his hand. Then you had be Will [Brandon Williams] with his hammy and D-Live [Lively] already had his foot, J-Hardy [Jaden Hardy] with his ankle. Like f— man, we can’t catch the break, Caleb [Martin], with everything he got going on. PJ’s [Washington’s] ankle. But credit to these guys who around the clock getting treatment and doing everything we can to get back on the floor to make this push. But in [Irving’s] instance, during that time, I let him have time to himself, his team, and everything. And then obviously, I was in the back with him, gave him some space, and then once he did everything he needed to do, he came back to the locker room where I was at. And his whole mood was just different as far as he was like, ‘Hey listen, ain’t nothing I can do about it.’ His mindset went from ‘f—’ to let’s get ready to start this rehab process and get back. So that’s the opposite, tough injury, but I know he’s had some pretty significant injuries, the kneecap and everything, and he came back the same Kai. So, it’s my job to hold the fort down the rest of the season and then go into next season with some of the offseason things that we’re pretty sure we’re going to do. Then, have him have his time to get back healthy, get back right, come in, and be Kyrie again. -via Andscape / March 28, 2025

From 2019 to 2025 with the Los Angeles Lakers, Anthony Davis averaged 24.8 points, 11 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.2 blocks and 1.2 steals in 312 games. The five-time All-NBA selection also won a 2020 NBA title with the Lakers. While the blockbuster trade to the Mavericks for Luka Doncic was life-altering for Davis, a smile has been commonplace for him since the dust settled in Dallas. “I’m great. I don’t feel it, but a lot of people have been coming to me and telling me they haven’t seen me smile like this in a long time,” Davis told Andscape. “Family is happy. Everybody is happy. It’s the nature of the business. Obviously, the first maybe 48 hours, it was just a shock because I wasn’t expecting it. Nobody was expecting it, so they say. But I know from my side, my team and my family and everybody who works with me, I wasn’t expecting it. Even when I was getting some of the calls [about the trade], I thought guys were playing. But it ended up being true and that first initial [emotion] was more a shock just seeing the position [we were in]; we’re in fifth in the West [Conference], we were rolling… “I know what Luka meant to the [Mavericks] organization, to the team. So, it’s like, what do I say to these guys coming in as a new leader and trying to lead these guys to do something special? And for them it’s like, ‘s—, he just went through probably the biggest trade in [expletive] sports history. What do we say to him?’ And I wasn’t playing. So, I just tried to feel everybody out and just kind of let it happen organically. And now we got a super-tight bond, man with all the guys. So, I’m happy, man. Happy I get to play.” -via Andscape / March 28, 2025