Report: Mavs' Anthony Davis Avoided Surgery on Injury, Will Miss 'Significant Period'

Although Dallas Mavericks superstar big man Anthony Davis is set to miss time due to an adductor strain, he reportedly won't require surgery.

Speaking Wednesday on Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective (beginning at the 13:38 mark), ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst said he believes Davis has avoided surgery.

However, Windhorst added that Davis will be out for a "significant period" of time, referring to the recovery timeline as "weeks and weeks."

Davis suffered the injury against the Houston Rockets on Saturday during his Mavs debut after Dallas acquired him from the Los Angeles Lakers in the blockbuster trade involving Luka Dončić.

Prior to the injury, AD was turning in a dominant performance for the Mavs, racking up 26 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks in what turned out to be a 116-105 Dallas win.

Disaster struck late in the third quarter, though, when Davis suffered a non-contact injury. He had to exit the game at that point and did not return.

Davis said after that game that it was "nothing serious," but ESPN's Shams Charania and Tim MacMahon later reported that the injury would force Davis to miss "multiple weeks."

Ahead of his 32nd birthday next month, Davis had to be removed from the All-Star Game due to his injury, making way for his Mavericks teammate in guard Kyrie Irving.

Injuries have long been an issue for Davis, who played in 62 or fewer games in five straight seasons from 2018-19 through 2022-23. That included missing all but 36 games in 2020-21 and all but 40 games in 2021-22.

Davis seemed to buck the trend last season when he played in a career-high 76 games for the Lakers.

He was also having a mostly healthy 2024-25 campaign until recently, as he missed only three of the Lakers' first 45 games.

Davis had missed a few games with an abdominal strain at the time the Mavericks acquired him, though, and now he has a far bigger ailment to deal with.

The 10-time All-Star is enjoying another huge statistical season, averaging 25.7 points, 12.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 blocks and 1.3 steals per game.

While many Mavericks fans were upset about the decision to trade a 25-year-old superstar in Dončić to the Lakers for a much older player in Davis, AD showed in his first game with the team what he and Irving were capable of together as an inside-outside combo.

Unfortunately for the Mavs, it looks as though it will be quite some time before Davis and Irving next share the court together.

Adding insult to injury is the fact that Dončić had a successful debut with the Lakers on Monday, recording 14 points, five rebounds and four assists in just over 23 minutes as part of a 132-113 win over the Utah Jazz.