On Friday evening, the Dallas Mavericks will hit the road to take on the Los Angeles Lakers in a matchup of the two teams that were involved in the most shocking trade in NBA history ten months ago. Mavericks big man Anthony Davis has yet to play a game in the Crypto.com Arena since he was traded from the Lakers in exchange for Luka Doncic, but according to the latest reports, that could change on Friday night.
“Anthony Davis was asked if he would prefer to return Friday or Saturday. He'll only play one leg of the back-to-back,” reported Christian Clark of The Athletic on X, formerly Twitter.
“You know what game I want to play. But we’ll see. We’ll have a conversation. See what makes the most sense with the medical staff and coaching staff. No decision has been made,” said Davis.
NBA insider Marc Stein also reported on X that “Mavericks coach Jason Kidd says Anthony Davis is in contention to make his return Friday against the Lakers in Los Angeles if he responds well to today’s practice. Kidd says Davis will be listed as questionable for Friday after missing the past 14 games with a left calf strain.”
As Stein mentioned, Davis has been out of the lineup for the better part of the last month for the Mavericks, during which time Dallas has free-fallen down the Western Conference playoff standings.
Getting Davis back for a matchup against his former Lakers team would certainly be a poetic return for the big man as the Mavericks look to salvage their 2025-26 season before it's too late.
