{"id":693760,"date":"2026-04-02T11:37:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T11:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/693760\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T11:37:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T11:37:14","slug":"wizards-are-trapped-in-anthony-davis-nightmare-cycle-the-mavericks-know-too-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/693760\/","title":{"rendered":"Wizards are trapped in Anthony Davis&#8217; nightmare cycle the Mavericks know too well"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5i\">Anthony Davis\u2019 tenure with the Dallas Mavericks was forgettable at best. The 33-year-old big man appeared in just 29 games before being dealt to the Washington Wizards at the trade deadline. And like his brief stint in Dallas, his time in the nation\u2019s capital has been defined by the same issue Mavericks fans know all too well: availability.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5l\">Davis hasn\u2019t played a single second for the Wizards since arriving on February 5. To be fair, he suffered ligament damage in his left hand in early January, which cut his time with the Dallas short. So this isn\u2019t a case of him simply sitting out. Still, a January 14 update indicated he was expected to heal in roughly six weeks.<\/p>\n<p>Anthony Davis&#8217; time in Dallas was defined by injuries<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5r\">Six weeks from the January 14 report would have put Davis on track to return by late February. Factoring in a typical ramp-up period, an early-to-mid March debut felt most likely. Instead, nothing.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5u\">Davis is running out of time to make an appearance in D.C., and it\u2019s increasingly likely that it won\u2019t happen this season. In their most recent update, the Wizards shared Davis was reevaluated in Los Angeles on March 30 and has since been cleared for light contact \u2014 a step forward, but not one that guarantees he\u2019ll see the floor anytime soon.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5x\">With just six games left in the 2025\u201326 season, it\u2019s increasingly unlikely Davis sees the floor at all. At this point, bringing him back would feel unnecessary. Why risk it when the season is essentially over, especially for a <a href=\"https:\/\/thesmokingcuban.com\/anthony-davis-brutal-fall-from-grace-proves-mavericks-right-all-over-again\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">player with his injury history<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"60\">There isn\u2019t a reason. This constant uncertainty is exactly what defined Davis\u2019 abbreviated stint in Dallas. Fans never felt comfortable with his status, and for good reason. A groin strain in his debut sidelined him for 18 straight games, and he still missed three of the final 11.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"63\">Then, to begin the 2025\u201326 campaign, Davis suffered a calf strain just five games in, costing him 15 games. After returning and missing three more along the way, <a href=\"https:\/\/thesmokingcuban.com\/dallas-mavericks-worst-anthony-davis-nightmare-just-came-true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">he suffered ligament damage<\/a> in his hand just 41 days later. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"66\">The most consecutive games Davis played in a Dallas uniform? Five.<\/p>\n<p>Washington is now stuck in the same cycle<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6c\">With <a href=\"https:\/\/thesmokingcuban.com\/mavericks-anthony-davis-trade-looks-better-as-his-injury-nightmare-hits-new-low\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">his recovery dragging on<\/a>, fans are left wondering if they\u2019ll see Davis at all this season. The answer is likely no, and it\u2019s part of a cycle that doesn\u2019t appear to be ending anytime soon. At 33, he has never been a picture of health. Even excluding this season, he\u2019s averaged roughly 60 appearances per year, and aside from a healthy 2023\u201324 campaign, he hasn\u2019t topped 60 games since 2019\u201320.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6f\">For Wizards fans, this isn\u2019t just a frustrating stretch. It\u2019s the beginning of a familiar cycle. The uncertainty, the missed time, the constant waiting for a return that may or may not come. It\u2019s a pattern Mavericks fans know all too well. And if history is any indication, it\u2019s one that isn\u2019t going away anytime soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anthony Davis\u2019 tenure with the Dallas Mavericks was forgettable at best. The 33-year-old big man appeared in just&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":693761,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3780],"tags":[7,6,682,468,3892,683],"class_list":{"0":"post-693760","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-wizards","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-washington","11":"tag-washington-wizards","12":"tag-washingtonwizards","13":"tag-wizards"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116334916243460178","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=693760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693760\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/693761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}