Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd told reporters on Monday, including Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News, that star guard Luka Doncic underwent an MRI last week that revealed a mild left calf strain.
Doncic will miss the Mavs’ preseason finale on Friday and “will be reevaluated later this week,” Kidd said. Veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein hears the Mavs are “optimistic” that the four-time All-Star will be available for the team’s regular season opener on October 25 at San Antonio (Twitter link).
Kidd also gave an update on Doncic’s star backcourt mate, Kyrie Irving, who has been dealing with left groin soreness that caused him to miss two of the team’s three preseason games overseas. Irving was a full practice participant on Monday and “we’ll see how he feels tomorrow and we’ll go from there,” Kidd said (Twitter video link via Townsend).
Doncic sustained the mild calf strain while practicing early last week in Spain, which is why he only played five minutes against his former European club, Real Madrid. He downplayed the severity of the injury after the Mavs lost the game, but has been limited to riding a stationary bike and spot shooting of late, Kidd added.
It’s an unfortunate set of circumstances for Dallas, as the team reshaped its roster this offseason around Doncic and Irving, but the Mavs have barely been able to see how the new pieces fit together. After they traded for Irving in February, both he and Doncic dealt with injuries down the stretch — they only played 16 games together, going 5-11 in those contests.
Doncic made his fourth consecutive All-NBA First Team appearance in 2022/23, once again putting up incredible numbers, but he played through a nagging left thigh injury at the end of the season that lingered into the summer and impacted him during the World Cup. It’s unclear if the two injuries are connected, though it’s noteworthy that they’ve both affected his left leg.
As Townsend writes, this at least the second left calf strain of Doncic’s career — the 24-year-old missed three games in the Mavs’ first-round playoff series against Utah in ’21/22 after sustaining the injury in the regular season finale. Dallas won the series and reached the Western Conference Finals that season, ultimately losing to the Warriors, who won the championship.
I wish they’d trade Luka and everyone else on last year’s team that’s still currently on the roster. they purposely lost and don’t deserve to even be in the league.
Dude.. relax. The Spurs tanked for Wemby and Duncan. The Knicks tanked for Ewiing. The Sixers and Lakers tanked for Simmons. Cavs tanked for LeBron. Rockets tanked for Sampson and Hakeem. Nets tanked and got Coleman.
Teams tank all the time. The Lakers kept tanking so their FRP wouldn’t convey.