The all-star Mavericks forward will undergo likely season-ending surgery to repair ligament damage in his right hand, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Tuesday.
However, Davis remains the subject of trade talks for a potential post-season return, per Charania.
Shortly after Charania’s report, Davis posted a message on X: “Y’all better stop listening to all these lies on these apps,” seemingly in response.
It is unclear if the star centre was referring to Charania’s report, or specifically the potential season-ending surgery or trade rumblings.
Davis was injured late in a 116-114 loss at the Utah Jazz earlier in January. The 10-time all-star was in obvious pain on the bench before going to the locker room.
The injury marked a significant development for the Mavericks as they try to figure out how to move on from the trade for Davis that sent young superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers 11 months ago.
General manager Nico Harrison, the orchestrator of the deal, was fired in November after Dallas got off to a slow start. The Mavericks (15-25) are 10 games under .500 and out of the playoff picture less than two years after playing in the NBA Finals.
Davis is averaging 20.4 points and 11.1 rebounds per contest, but the 32-year-old has missed 18 of the Mavericks’ 38 games this season with calf and groin injuries.
He was nursing an abdominal injury when the Mavericks traded for him last February, and he re-aggravated it in his Dallas debut. Davis was sidelined for the next 18 games.
–with files from The Associated Press
