Mavericks make multiple staff changes after tumultuous season

Some much-needed changes are happening within the Mavericks.

Feb 23, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd reacts during the second quarter of the game against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-Imagn Images / John Hefti-Imagn Images

The Dallas Mavericks are sitting at home after missing the NBA Playoffs less than a year after making the NBA Finals. It was a roller-coaster season between the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade, lengthy injuries to Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Davis, Dereck Lively II, and Daniel Gafford, and an unhappy fanbase that remains confused about the midseason trades.

Despite the trade, there's a case to be made that if the team had been healthy, the team could've made some noise in the playoffs. But this team was far from healthy, playing with only eight players on many occasions.

READ MORE: NBA legend reveals reaction to Mavericks-Lakers Luka Doncic trade

Feb 8, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis (3) grabs his midsection with an apparent injury during the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Those injuries forced the Mavericks to make some changes, as ESPN's Tim MacMahon and DLLS' Marc Stein have reported that Nico Harrison has made multiple moves within the health and performance group. Among those dismissed from their positions are athletic performance director Keith Belton and head athletic trainer Dionne Calhoun.

Sources: Mavericks GM Nico Harrison is making major changes to the team’s health and performance group again. Among the dismissals: athletic performance director Keith Belton, Harrison’s hire last summer; and head athletic trainer Dionne Calhoun.

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) May 7, 2025

There was a lot of turmoil within the team's training staff between Belton and the director of player health and performance, Johann Bilsborough. According to MacMahon's end-of-season piece, Belton and Bilsborough had a loud disagreement about the handling of Dereck Lively II's injury, who rolled his ankle against the Nuggets in January, was ramping up to play against the Charlotte Hornets a few days later, and then missed nearly the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his ankle that they later discovered. It seems like Bilsborough is staying.

Belton was hired by Nico Harrison last season, but he doesn't have either certification needed to be a strength coach in the NBA, and yet he was allowed to be because the league accepted his College Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association with the expectation that he would get the necessary certifications soon.

Calhoun has been with the Mavericks for 21 years and was one of the last remnants remaining from Casey Smith's training staff, who was let go by the Mavericks two years ago and is one of the most highly regarded team health professionals in the NBA. Calhoun was promoted to head trainer in 2019.

There are supposedly many more, which were needed after the season the Mavs had. They had 444-man games lost this season, which was among the ten lowest in the NBA, but nobody arguably had more impactful injuries. Irving played in 50 of a possible 84 games with the Mavs (if you include the Play-In), Davis played in 11 of 32, Doncic played in 22 of 49, and Lively played in 36 of 84. Players like Davis and P.J. Washington were vocal that they were returning too soon from injuries, and the number of games missed was a major concern within the Mavs fanbase.

READ MORE: Breakout Mavericks forward breaks silence on Luka Doncic-Lakers trade

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