Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison has made his first big move of the offseason after the team failed to make the playoffs. Reports indicate that tension has been building within the organization regarding the treatment of center Dereck Lively's ankle injury. The situation has led Harrison to clean house on the team's health and performance group.
Harrison is letting go of athletic performance director Keith Belton and head athletic trainer Dionne Calhoun, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN. The Mavericks' general manager hired Belton as the athletic performance director in the 2024 offseason.
“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.”
After the team's 120-106 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on April 18, it was reported that the Mavericks‘ medical staff had a “blowup” about how the team managed Lively's injury. The medical staff initially cleared the 21-year-old center to play that game, in which he recorded six rebounds and three assists in 20 minutes of play.
But others on the medical staff were unhappy with the decision to play Lively in that game, as the Mavericks conducted further testing afterward and found Lively was dealing with a stress fracture, per NBA insider Marc Stein. At the time, Nico Harrison defended his medical staff and praised them for re-checking Lively's ankle.
“Dereck Lively's foot injury, as The Stein Line and DLLS Sports first reported following Dallas' season-ending loss at Memphis, led to a blowup between department lead Johann Bilsborough and strength coach Keith Belton. Belton has been let go. It's believed Bilsborough stays.”
When asked about the situation back in April, Nico Harrison not-so-subtly called out the media for attempting to take a negative angle on Lively's injury and the medical staff's situation.
“Our medical team knew it was something more, and so that's why they went and tested him again and saw the CT scan, which they actually avoided a potential catastrophic injury,” explained Nico Harrison. “So you know, you will take the angle of being negative, but it's actually a positive thing, because they saw with the symptoms, even though he was cleared to play, they didn't feel right putting him on the floor.”
