Mavericks' Anthony Davis leaves NBA Christmas game against Warriors with injury

Mavericks fans had their worst wishes come to fruition on Christmas.

Dec 23, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis (3) looks on during the game between the Mavericks and the Nuggets at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Dallas Mavericks had the chance to play on Christmas Day for the sixth year in a row, traveling to face the Golden State Warriors, who were playing their 13th straight game on Christmas.

A year ago was a haunting game for the Mavericks, as Luka Doncic went down late against the Minnesota Timberwolves with a calf strain, and that would turn out to be his last game in a Mavericks uniform, as Nico Harrison traded him over a month later to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The person Doncic was traded for, Anthony Davis, made Mavericks fans feel deja vu as he went down in the second quarter against the Warriors with what looked to be a right groin or upper leg injury. He had forced a turnover off Steph Curry and then took off in transition. Naji Marshall passed it ahead to Davis, seeing the mismatch down the floor with Curry on Davis, but Davis veered off and went straight to the bench.

Naji Marshall with a full court pass to Anthony Davis, who was heading to the bench due to what appears as an injury pic.twitter.com/uAMV7vTOYn

— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) December 25, 2025

He tried to stretch it out on the bench as Jason Kidd took a timeout, but then he went back to the locker room with about 9 minutes remaining in the half, and he wouldn't come back.

After halftime, the Mavericks would announce that he wouldn't return to the game due to right groin spasms. This is now the second year in a row that he's been hurt on Christmas, as he hurt his Adductor as a Laker on Christmas last year.

Anthony Davis (right groin spasms) will not return to tonight's game against Golden State Warriors.

— Mavs PR (@MavsPR) December 25, 2025

READ MORE: Will Mavericks' Klay Thompson play against Warriors on NBA Christmas?

This is Exactly Why the Mavericks Have to Move on From Anthony Davis

There had been a lot of trade chatter surrounding Anthony Davis, as a lot of people around the NBA realize that the team should prioritize building around Cooper Flagg, and the team doesn't have control of their first-round picks from 2027 to 2030.

It's hard to find a trade package for Davis, but he had two great games this week, and the hope was that he could stay healthy long enough for Kyrie Irving to return, and they could see what the trio of Irving, Davis, and Cooper Flagg looked like, but it's clear that Davis will never be healthy enough to find that out.

We'll see how long this injury will keep Davis out for. Nico Harrison is no longer the general manager, so he won't push Davis to return too soon. Davis already missed 14 games this year due to a calf strain.

READ MORE: Mark Cuban backs Dallas Mavericks forward for major NBA award

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