In the first quarter of the Dallas Mavericks' game against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night, Anthony Davis hobbled up the floor after an offensive possession and had to be subbed out of the game. Jason Kidd called a timeout, and Davis sat on the scorer's table and constantly grabbed at his left heel.
Davis had been questionable for the game against Indiana with bilateral Achilles tendinopathy, but the Mavericks decided to play him. From the looks of it, Davis likely aggravated his Achilles early in this game, and they were just dealt their first injury to Davis of the season.
Dallas Mavericks big man Anthony Davis was slow to get back up the court after Dallas’ last offensive possession and was grabbing for his leg. It looked like he kept grabbing the back of his left leg/heel.
He just went back to the locker room. pic.twitter.com/dSsM0y0Djo
— Noah Weber (@noahweber00) October 30, 2025
He was clearly dealing with some discomfort before he exited the court, and Mavericks fans' worst fear with Davis happened right in front of them. The entire world knows that Davis can be one of the most unstoppable bigs in the NBA when he's fully healthy, but injuries have been one of his biggest problems for years, as he has had problems staying on the floor for a full season throughout his career.
Anthony Davis is dealing with a left leg injury at the worst possible time
The 2025-26 season started exactly one week ago for Dallas, and they could end up being without their star big man for some time if whatever he is dealing with is serious.
The Mavericks classified his injury as left lower leg soreness when he was ruled out for the remainder of the contest, and Dallas truly can't catch a break.
Playing Davis in this game despite him dealing with some sort of discomfort in his Achilles was already a bold move, and fans will be hoping that it was just a bit sore and he didn't want to push through it and risk a catastrophic injury. Achilles injuries are no joke, and Dallas has to be careful with how they handle this.
They were already in a bind down low since Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford are both dealing with their own injuries, and Davis going down forces Kidd to play Dwight Powell and potentially Moussa Cissse at the five for the time being. Dallas dealt with this exact same issue during the second half of last season, as Davis, Lively II, and Gafford were all dealing with severe injuries at the same time, and Mavericks fans will be hoping that Davis can return to the floor soon.
This season was supposed to be the year that Davis takes over and shows the world that he deserves much more respect in NBA circles, as he was entering the season fully healthy. Davis was fully recovered from the adductor injury he suffered in his first game in Dallas, and even though he had eye surgery that kept him off the court for a month over the summer, he was healthy and ready to go ahead of his 14th season in the NBA.
If serious, this injury just put the Mavericks in an even worse spot as they try to rebound from an abysmal start, and his health will be one of the biggest X-factors of the season as Dallas tries to avoid missing the NBA Playoffs for the third time in four years.