The Mavericks were optimistic in late September when they convened in Vancouver for their first training camp practice, missing only the injured Kyrie Irving.
That wasn’t the case by the end of the first practice. Daniel Gafford suffered a severe right ankle sprain that sidelined him for just over a month. It’s an issue that still plagues him today as he’s listed as doubtful for Friday’s home game against the Brooklyn Nets.
The dominoes continued to fall from there.
Anthony Davis. Dereck Lively II. P.J. Washington. Injuries began to pile up for the Mavericks’ starters. Dallas announced this week that Lively will have season-ending foot surgery, and Dante Exum won’t suit up this year because of a lingering knee injury. Even rookie forward Cooper Flagg has been playing with a right thumb splint, but he’s been healthy enough to play in 24 of the team’s 25 games.
Mavericks
Mavericks players have missed a combined 111 games this season because of injury or illness, but they aren’t alone in their injury woes.
One of the NBA’s most dominant storylines is the influx of injuries, specifically calf strains to star players. Some have blamed the NBA’s rigorous 82-game schedule. Others point to the increased pace of play in recent seasons, which requires players to cover more ground defensively as offenses spread beyond the 3-point line.
The conversation led the NBA on Thursday to dismiss criticism that the early-season schedule, specifically the NBA Cup, has contributed to injuries.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd recently said he doesn’t know if the league’s increased pace is causing the uptick.
“I think it’s more the workout of the individual,” Kidd said. “We have to train at a higher speed if we’re going to play at this pace. To go from 0 to 100, we’re not training that way in training camp or we’re not training like that in the summer, and then we’re asking them to go above the speed limit and play fast. I think that puts everyone in harm’s way.”
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (from left) laughs on the bench with guard Kyrie Irving and center Dereck Lively II during the second half of an NBA preseason basketball game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Dickies Arena on Monday, Oct. 6, 2025, in Fort Worth.
Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer
Pace of play
Everyone is playing faster. The average pace this season is 100.0 possessions per game, an increase from 98.8 last season. The NBA hasn’t seen a pace this fast since 2019-20, the second of two consecutive seasons that had 100 possessions per game. Before that, the league hadn’t reached 100 possessions since the 1988-89 season.
The NBA has 13 seasons of data tracking speed and distance for players and teams. This season has a small sample size through 26 games, but the Indiana Pacers lead the league in average distance traveled per game with 17.7 miles per game.
The Miami Heat ranks as the fastest team in the NBA with an average speed of 4.60 miles per hour. The Mavericks have traveled 17.2 miles per game, tied for fifth with the Nets and Orlando Magic, and rank 11th in average speed (4.43).
By comparison, the Magic were the fastest team 10 years ago, in the 2015-16 season, with an average speed of 4.41 miles per hour and 17.8 miles per game. The league lost 4,496 regular-season games to injuries that season, according to injury expert Jeff Stotts of InStreetClothes.com.
If the league continues at this pace, players could lose as many as 7,000 games this season.
Injuries have hindered some of the league’s brightest stars this year, including Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Edwards, Ja Morant, Victor Wembanyama, Zion Williamson, Trae Young and Stephen Curry.
Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis (3) and Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) sit on the bench during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Phoenix Suns at American Airlines Center, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki / Staff Photographer
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr voiced his concern last month about the NBA’s increased pace contributing to injuries.
The Warriors’ medical staff believes “the wear and tear, the speed, the pace, the mileage is factoring into these injuries,” Kerr said. “Across the league, everyone understands that it’s easier to score if you beat the opponent down the floor, get out in transition. But when everybody’s doing that, the games are much higher-paced. Everyone has to cover out to 25 feet because everybody can shoot 3s.
“We have all the data. Players are running faster and further [than] before. We’re trying to do the best we can, but we basically have a game every other night. It’s not an easy thing to do.”
New York Knicks coach Mike Brown was asked about Kerr’s comments before his team played the Mavericks on Nov. 19.
New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown watches play during an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Tony Gutierrez / AP
“Steve is a little smarter than me,” Brown joked. “I think if we did play less games, and again, this is a novice speaking right here, it would help because the game is faster.
“And you’re putting a lot of pressure on everybody’s bodies playing three in four nights or 14, 15 back-to-backs throughout the course of the year. So if you had a few more days in between to recover, again, from a novice speaking, I think it would be better, but that’s just my two cents.”
Kidd, who thrived on playing fast during his NBA career, doesn’t necessarily believe the answer lies in reducing the amount of regular-season games. He insists there should be a change in the way teams prepare to adapt to the faster game.
“We have the food. The technology is better than in the ’80s and ’90s,” Kidd said. “There’s gotta be a way to look at the way we’re training and maybe [see] why we’re having some of these injuries. It’s not because the season is longer. It’s gotta be something with the training.”
NBA chimes in
On Thursday, the NBA called a report by The Athletic inaccurate and misleading for suggesting the schedule contributes to star players missing more games to injuries.
Mike Bass, the league’s chief communications officer, said the NBA has played roughly the same number of games through 42 days this season (308) as last season (307), which is consistent with pre-NBA Cup years (308 games in 2022 and 313 games in 2021).
“Through the season’s first six weeks, the number of injuries forcing star players to miss games is the lowest in the past six seasons, down more than 25 percent year-over-year,” Bass said in a prepared statement. “While several star players have not played this season due to injuries sustained last season, the suggestion that any increase in games missed this season is related to the schedule’s first six weeks is patently misleading.”
Those stars include Irving, Tyrese Haliburton, Damian Lillard, Dejounte Murray and Jayson Tatum. Haliburton and Lillard are out for the season, but Irving, Murray and Tatum could return in 2026.
Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving signs autographs after an NBA preseason basketball game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Oklahoma City Thunder at Dickies Arena on Monday, Oct. 6, 2025, in Fort Worth.
Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer
Irving is one of at least 20 notable players not on pace to reach the 65-game requirement for postseason awards, such as All-NBA honors, along with Davis, Wembanyama, LeBron James and Luka Doncic.
If the league’s biggest stars are ineligible, does it take some of the shine off its most prestigious awards? It’s possible, especially if they appear to go to the most durable players, not necessarily the most impactful.
It’s unlikely the NBA will decrease the 65-game threshold or the number of games in the season, especially in the first year of a massive media rights deal that lasts through the next decade.
And it’s likely the pace of play will remain the same, but at what cost?
Outlook for Mavericks
Dallas is on track to have an even more severe injury crisis than last season, when players missed 336 games because of injury or illness. It was nearly double the amount from 2023-24, when players lost 174 games.
Irving and Exum have been fixtures on the Mavericks’ injury report, which often looks as long as a grocery receipt. The same applies to Lively, whose premature end to his third NBA season is the latest blow to the Mavericks’ hopes to compete in a stacked Western Conference.
At 9-16, the Mavericks are 11th in the West, just outside of the Play-In Tournament.
With no timeline for Irving’s return, the Mavericks could have to make decisions about the makeup of the roster without seeing what a trio of him, Davis and Flagg could do on the court before the Feb. 5 trade deadline.
Klay Thompson summed up the team’s feelings last month when he spoke about seeing the Mavericks at full strength.
“We’ll be healthy one day, and I am very excited for that day,” he said, “whenever that is.”
Mavericks’ injuries as of Dec. 11NameInjury/IllnessDates OutGames MissedAnthony DavisLeft calf strain11/1 through 11/2414Left calf injury management11/291Dante ExumRight knee injury management10/22 through present25Cooper FlaggIllness11/191Daniel GaffordRight ankle sprain10/22 through 11/16Right ankle injury management11/17; 11/29 through 12/1; 12/5 through present5Kyrie IrvingLeft knee surgery10/22 through present25Dereck Lively IIRight knee contusion10/271Right knee sprain10/29 through 11/128Right knee injury management11/17; 11/222Right foot injury management11/24 through 12/67Caleb MartinIllness11/191Ryan NembhardLeft knee sprain11/16 through 12/65D’Angelo RussellLeft knee contusion11/11Illness11/21 through 11/222Klay ThompsonIllness11/81Left knee soreness12/61PJ WashingtonLeft shoulder strain11/141Right ankle sprain11/29 through 12/54Total games missed 111
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