Source: https://hoopswire.com/anthony-davis-mavericks-mavs-eye-nba-news/

Anthony Davis is back on the floor. Per Marc Stein of The Stein Line, the Mavericks star went through 5-on-5 work this week for the first time since undergoing surgery in July to repair a detached retina.

Davis, 32, was limited to just nine games with Dallas last season with an adductor injury, averaging 20 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.2 blocks.

The Mavericks, of course, missed the playoffs just one year after reaching the 2024 Finals. They’re banking on a bounce-back from Davis to pair with No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg and veterans such as Klay Thompson and newcomer D’Angelo Russell. Kyrie Irving is still recovering from a torn ACL.

Coach Jason Kidd is expected to open camp with a starting five of Russell, Thompson, Flagg, Davis and Daniel Gafford.

Thompson, for one, is thrilled to share the court with Davis.

“When he’s healthy, he’s the best power forward maybe of my generation,” Thompson said on the Showtime With Michael Cooper podcast. “He is a two-way force. There’s not many big men who can do what he does as far as his handle, his blocking shot ability, his jump shot.”

12 comments

  2. A detached retina is extremely serious. I’m one of the unlucky people to go through a non trauma related one at a young age and have lost the ability to see good detail in that eye as a result as I didn’t notice the issue for too long. The fact I recovered a significant amount in the first place is more than I could’ve expected.

    I’m genuinely very curious on the timeline of the injury cause the initial reporting sounded like he took a while to get the surgery.

  6. Wonder if Stein’s listing of Gafford in the expected starting 5 is a typo or a misread assumption on his part, because:

    1. Why would Lively lose his starting spot that he decidedly won last season (he started 81% of all games he played last season, including every single game from mid-November – when he was moved into the starting lineup in Gafford’s place – onward) in just his third year when he was huge and key for them anytime he *was* playing last season?

    2. Lively and Klay have easily the best connection chemistry-wise of any pairing on that team to start the season, ie not counting any pairings involving Kyrie, something Kidd himself noted on occasion towards the end of last season when Lively returned, so splitting them up for the majority of their minutes on the court would make no sense…

  7. I want him to wear eye protection so bad, I do not know another player currently who gets poked in the eye as much as he does

  11. AD is one of my favorite players in the league so really hoping he stays healthy this season. It was depressing watching him get injured in his first game with Dallas.

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