Anthony Davis' Personal Medical Staff Reportedly on Mavs' Payroll, Luka's Wasn't

The Dallas Mavericks have afforded Anthony Davis a luxury that they apparently never gave to Luka Dončić during his tenure with the club.

On the latest episode of the Howdy Partners YouTube show (starts at 8:15 mark), ESPN's Tim MacMahon said that Davis' personal medical staff is on the Mavs' payroll even though that was not the case with Dončić.

There are any number of reasons the Mavericks gave Davis this perk but not Dončić. For starters, Davis is older and had an extensive injury history at the time Dallas acquired him. He was injured when the trade with the Los Angeles Lakers went down, having missed the previous five games due to an abdominal strain.

Dončić had never suffered a major injury prior to the start of his NBA career or during his time with Dallas. His most games missed in a season prior to the 2024-25 campaign was 17 in 2021-22 due primarily to an ankle injury.

It's entirely plausible, given the shocking nature of the trade, that the Mavs offered to pay Davis' medical staff to help ease his transition to a new team. It could also be a perk he negotiated into his contract with the Lakers that carried over after the trade.

One interesting note from MacMahon as he was talking about the Mavericks paying Davis' team is there seems to be a difference of opinion between the two sides about his ability to play in games right now.

MacMahon reported on Wednesday that Davis originally targeted the Nov. 8 game against the Washington Wizards to return from a calf injury, but there was a "disagreement" between Davis' medical staff and Mavericks director of health and player performance Johann Bilsborough.

Dallas ultimately kept Davis out after governor Patrick Dumont decided to "err on the side of caution" and back Bilsborough. Dumont also "requested medical data" that indicates that Davis isn't at risk of aggravating the injury, per MacMahon.

Given that Davis is being bantered about as a potential trade candidate before the Feb. 5 deadline, it's not hard to figure out why Dumont would want to be absolutely certain there's low risk of a possible catastrophic injury.

Davis hasn't played since Oct. 29 when he suffered a calf strain in the first quarter of Dallas' 107-105 win over the Indiana Pacers.