Anthony Davis’ run with the Dallas Mavericks this season ended the way it began. With an injury. Tonight, during the Mavs’ loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, AD hobbled off the court in the 4th quarter due to an injury. After the game, though, he revealed a surprising detail about why he returned to tonight’s game. But even that was superseded by his head coach Jason Kidd’s shocking verdict on their season.

Davis had an incredible showing tonight. He put up 40 points for the Mavs, shooting at a 55.2% clip. He also led his team in rebounds with 9. Playing through his injury, he also logged the most minutes for the Mavs with 37. Even so, when he returned, he looked visibly compromised. And it all appeared to be over when he sat on the bench, using a massage gun; his injury seemingly reaggravated. However, he soon returned to the game and hit a jumper. So what happened? Here’s what AD said about his ability to see the game through for the Mavs.

“I think so. Probably not at my full self. Even the 3 that Ja contested on an airball, I tried to jump to shoot it & my calf kind of pulled. So I had to come back down & readjust. If the game was a little closer, I would’ve for sure went out there. Just left it all on the floor,” said AD about his decision to return to a bench for a breather before going back out. Later, his head coach’s comments on his injury also solidified the notion that his decision to play despite his injury was related to the score. “The game [was] getting out of hand,” said coach Kidd.

And it makes sense that Kidd and AD made the call to have him play through his injury. After all, Anthony Davis did reveal that he knew this was, in his words, a “You lose, you go home” type of game. Despite his best efforts, though, the Dallas Mavericks weren’t able to keep their playoff hopes alive tonight.

But that doesn’t mean coach Jason Kidd is disappointed in his team. In fact, like we said earlier, Anthony’s confession wasn’t even close to being the most shocking revelation tonight. Don’t believe us? Just wait till you hear what Jason Kidd thought of the Mavs’ season.

Jason Kidd gives his team props for an “incredible season” despite Grizzlies loss

The Dallas Mavericks and their fans endured quite a lot this season. It began as you already know, with the Luka Doncic trade. But things simply got worse from there. Their roster was ravaged by injuries, with Anthony Davis sidelined after his debut and Kyrie Irving following suit soon after. Then they nearly ran out of options at the 5 with their big men falling like dominoes.

The fact that they managed to course correct and finish as the 10th seed in the cutthroat West should be lauded. And that’s exactly what Jason Kidd did, to the shock of many at the post-game press conference tonight. “An incredible season when you look at the injuries that we’ve had. The change. For us to even be here playing in this game tonight, it’s incredible. It just shows the character of that group & that locker room…With the change & injuries, some would say we shouldn’t even be here. Give those guys in that locker room a lot of credit,” said Jason Kidd after the game tonight.

While the sentiment is great, was tonight really the best time for Kidd to commend his team? After all, they just had their season ended by a Grizzlies team that just lost to the Warriors and had a compromised Ja Morant among their ranks. Moreover, AD also got into it with a supporter during the game, so it can be argued that the fans aren’t exactly siding with the Mavs tonight.

But we must also consider how the locker room must be feeling. After all, to crash out of the postseason tonight after mounting such an amazing comeback in the regular season must be tough. Perhaps this is just Kidd putting his team before anything else. And however shocking it may be to us, that’s what a coach should do, no?

Nonetheless, this season, sadly, is over for the Mavs. The Mavs’ next season will be one to watch. For their fans, haters, and neutrals. So, onwards and upwards it is for Dallas!