The Mavs’ chaotic season has finally come to an end. As expected, the heartbroken Dallas fanbase is blaming Nico Harrison for it. Well, it was his controversial decision to trade Luka Doncic that sparked the chain reaction leading to their eventual Play-in exit. But apart from Luka’s departure, there was another glaring reason that led to their failed campaign – Injuries.

Over the course of this season, the Mavs lost their primary superstars Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis for a major chunk due to injury woes. Even the supporting cast, including Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford, and Olivier-Maxence Prosper missed crucial regular season games due to health issues. It seemed like the Mavs were destined to fail. But can their injury woes also be traced back to Harrison’s questionable decision making?

After tonight’s embarrassing blowout loss against the Grizzlies, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon asked the GM, “Why did you make the decision to fire Casey Smith in the summer of 2023? Why did you make the decision to fire Jeremy Holsopple last year? And how do you evaluate the job of your new hires for those roles during the season, which obviously, injuries have completely wreaked havoc on this roster?” Two years ago, Nico abruptly fired Casey, Mavs’ director of player health and performance. He is now the Knicks’ Vice President of sports medicine. A year later, Nico let go of Holsopple, who was the team’s strength coach along with manual therapist Casey Spangler. Notably, all three worked closely with Luka and he even commented on their firing to an ESPN source, “They get rid of everybody I like.”

Speculations were that Harrison made the move to get a better medical team to improve Luka’s conditioning. However, the GM seemed a bit appalled by MacMahon bringing up his past decisions now. He replied, “Yeah, you know, bringing up Casey is like almost, it’s kind of a joke. Like last year, Casey wasn’t around, and we made it through to the Finals. No one brought up Casey last year. So, to bring him up this year doesn’t really make sense. He’s been away for two years. So, I’m not even going to comment on that.”

Meanwhile, he made no mention of Holsopple or Spangler’s firing. However, his defensive response does raise questions about the team’s concerning medical practices, especially after witnessing AD’s struggles against the Grizzlies.

NBA announcers confirm concerning visuals of Anthony Davis’ struggles in final game of the season

Of course, the biggest example of the Mavs failing to keep their roster healthy is Anthony Davis. Following the trade, he suited up for only nine regular season games because he was dealing with a lingering adductor injury. Somehow, he willed his way to playing tonight’s Play-in game, hoping to save his team from elimination. But his body slowly began giving up on him.

After a hot start, AD started facing groin issues, which led to him heading to the locker room before the half-time buzzer. Even when he returned, it was clear that the injury was bothering him. On-air announcers detailed his struggles on Live TV, “Anthony Davis before the end of the half looked to grab his left groin as he went to the tunnel. And when he came out of the locker room, I asked him ‘AD are you okay? You good?’ He nodded. He said ‘Yes.’ But in the last two timeouts, Anthony Davis has had a member of the training staff working on that left leg and what looks to be his left groin, applying pressure with an ice pack wrapped around a towel.”

Yes, Davis was fighting through the pain all night trying to not let his team down. “That has been what he’s been dealing with the last two timeouts to try to tough it out to get through this game.” The announcer added. Another broadcaster pointed out that Davis was also facing lower back issues. Despite not feeling 100%, The Brow didn’t let it reflect on his performance as he played arguably his best game in the Mavs uniform, finishing with 40 points and nine rebounds. Unfortunately, it was not enough to save his team from elimination. However, his effort proves that the Mavs have potential if they can keep their roster healthy. But for that to happen, Nico might have to reassess his medical team and not ignore the glaring issues like he did with MacMahon tonight. Thoughts?