Only good things happen when owners take a hands-on approach to roster decisions. Just ask Knicks and Kings fans.
Anthony Davis will miss his seventh straight game Wednesday night when Dallas hosts Phoenix, and his return date is uncertain as Dallas Mavericks Governor Patrick Dumont requested medical information that Davis is not likely to aggravate the calf strain that took him out, reports Tim MacMahon at ESPN.
(Davis) had originally planned to return for Saturday’s away game against the Washington Wizards, but there was disagreement between Mavs director of health and performance Johann Bilsborough and Davis’ personal medical staff about being cautious, sources said. Davis was retained after Dumont sided with Bilsborough, preferring to err on the side of caution, sources said.
We can understand Dumont’s caution here. Players are often the worst judges of how quickly they can come back (especially from soft tissue injuries) – they’re in the NBA in part because they believe they can overcome anything. Although Davis has a personal medical staff, he pays for it. The team will likely be more careful with players they have invested tens of millions of dollars in.
As MacMahon noted, Dumont’s decision against Washington was probably partly related to his lack of confidence in the now fired general manager Nico Harrison. Dumont also thinks about the fact that last season, when the Mavericks acquired Davis in the Luka Doncic trade, he was sidelined with an abdominal injury. Davis battled back from that injury following all the criticism of the trade, only to reaggravate it in his first game back, which kept him sidelined for another six weeks.
That said, the idea of an owner becoming more involved in basketball decisions or medical decisions is concerning. Dumont needs to do a serious search, possibly hire a new general manager with a long term planthen move out of his way.
