Mavericks Fire Top training staff after an injury-plagued season, reported internal disputes

The Dallas Mavericks have found the problem: their training staff.

After a rocky season, in which a number of injuries for the reorganization after the franchise change trade Luka Dončić triggered, the Mavericks move on by ESPN from several high-ranking members of their health and performance group. It is the third outside of the season in which the franchise made the group significant changes.

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In this case, General Manager of Mavericks, Nico Harrison, Head Athletic Trainer Dionne Calhoun, who has been in a team for 21 years, and Keith Belton, who worked in the Athletic Performance team last month.

Viewed from the outside, injuries to the Mavericks were a problem with killing seasons. This season, only three players played more than 57 games for the team. Kyrie Irving's season ended with an ACL tear. Anthony Davis was immediately out of the way with an Adductor burden with which he dealt with after entering the team. PJ Washington dealt with knee and ankle injuries, Dereck Lively II went out with an ankle fracture, and Daniel Gafford missed a large part of the time with his own knee injury.

This team became so short -handed, some began to speculate that due to a lack of healthy players on the squad, it would have to start extending games.

Somehow that was just the beginning of the dysfunction.

Mavericks' training staff was reportedly a chaos under Nico Harrison

In an article published after the end of Dalla's season, ESPN reported that Harrison's handling of the training staff was a big fracture point for the team with Dončić and team legend Dirk Nowitzki. According to reports, both players reported with the former Mavericks director of Casey Smith, an award-winning coach that Harrison had released in 2023, while Smith tended to his serious sick mother.

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Perpn was the reason that Smith was “too negative”. When Harrison was asked about these claims, he called the Smith situation “Type of Witz” and rejected further comments.

Jeremy Holsopfe, director of Team Athletic Performance, and manual therapist Casey Spangler, who was also near Dončić, were also released in June.

Harrison replaced Smith with Belton and Director of Player Health and Performance Johann Bilsborough. Belton, a former full -back from Chicago Bears, had no NBA experience before he came to the Mavericks. He spent the last four years as a director of football on the UCLA and did not technically had the certifications that were necessary to be an NBA force trainer, even though he was temporarily approved by the NBA while looking for them.

On the other hand, Bilsborough, an Australian sports scientist with a doctorate who also came to the MAV from the world of football, was five seasons with the New England Patriots. In contrast to Belton, he had NBA experience and worked from 2017 to 20 as Director of Sports Science for the Boston Celtics, but said reported that he came together with Boston's Head Athletic Trainer at the time.

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According to reports, these two settings stuck regularly, with heated confrontation about dealing with Lively's ankle injury. During the rehab rehab, Belton reported intensive training and believed that he could return to the actions in days. Bilsborough was unsure and nicely sent for a CT scan that resulted in the stress fracture in his ankle. The injury kept lively for 2 1/2 months.

Differences of opinion with Dončić's camp were also reported on injury time plans, since Dončić did not work with Belton at all and believed that he had been gained in a calf pollution because he was hurried back by a bruise while Harrison blamed the poor conditioning.

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According to an MRI in the calf stem, Bilsborough reported reportedly in two or three weeks, while the player's team insisted on needing six weeks. Dončić's trade in the Lakers made it a controversial point. Belton is now also gone, while Bilsborough and Harrison stay.

Not everything can be held responsible for the training staff. Irving's ACL-Riss was described as a freak accident, but also came, while the 33-year-old guarded the greatest workload of the NBA after trading with Dončić.

You can record that with Harrison.