The blockbuster deal involving Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis has left a sour taste in the mouths of Mavericks fans. Their distaste was further amplified once Davis suffered a groin injury in his first game. Dallas expects him to remain out of the lineup for at least two more weeks. However, he did give Mavs fans a taste of how great he can be. NBA analyst Skip Bayless believes that’s exactly what led to his devastating injury.
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Davis wasn’t walking into a favorable situation. The Mavericks’ entire fan base was against the trade siding with their former franchise superstar. Although fans weren’t necessarily angry toward Davis, he unfortunately became a target of their displaced emotions.
The 2020 NBA champion bore the hurt of fans with pride. Even going as far as publicly stating he strives to ease their grief by delivering in a major way.
In Davis’ first game, he did exactly that. He was unstoppable and looked like an MVP-caliber player in the first half against the Rockets. However, it was short-lived due to the groin injury. On The Skip Bayless Show, the NBA analyst attests that Davis overexerted himself to win the hearts of the fans. In turn, jeopardizing his health.
He said, “This time [Anthony Davis] played too hard. Trying to show angry Mavs fans that he’d have at least as much impact as Luka ever did and he was off to a great start but he pushed his injured Ab muscle a little too hard for too long and he created another injury.”
At the time of the trade, Davis and Doncic were both sidelined due to injury. AD returned to action quicker, and Bayless believes the stakes of the situation accelerated the process. Davis had already been recovering from an ab injury.
The intensive pressure he applied on his body led to his new injury according to Bayless.
The consensus within the basketball world is the Lakers are winners of the trade. Doncic’s recent stellar performance against the Nuggets further solidified the belief in the minds of many. That isn’t the case for Bayless. Despite the tumultuous start for the Mavericks due to health, he believes Dallas is the winner of the trade.
Bayless is a firm believer in the Mavericks following the Anthony Davis trade
Bayless didn’t shy away from taking the path less traveled. His immediate reaction to the trade consisted of the Mavericks as winners. Although Dallas hasn’t had the privilege to play with their new roster at full health, his opinion hasn’t changed.
“AD is in a BETTER spot to win now with Kyrie than he was with LeBron,” Bayless said.
The NBA analyst has heavily invested in Kyrie Irving as the leader of the team. He went as far as to claim that Davis is in a better position to win a title alongside Irving rather than LeBron. Unfortunately, the new star pairing hasn’t given a sample size for people to make an assessment.
Anthony Davis is on his road to recovery and will return to the Mavericks before the end of the season. Time isn’t on his side, but AD still has the opportunity to prove Bayless right.
