Something Wasn’t Right in Dallas Mavericks as Medical Staff’s Ignorance in Derek Lively’s Injury Before Firing Emerges

Something smells off in Dallas, and it’s not just the barbecue. Dereck Lively II was originally listed with a “right ankle sprain” in January, but surprise, surprise: it was a stress fracture all along. Then he’s out for 2-3 months. Cue the facepalms. How did the Mavs’ medical team miss that? This isn’t a twisted pinky in practice, we’re talking about a cornerstone player, sidelined because of what looks like blatant misdiagnosis.

According to Marc Stein and @DCLS_Sports, the fallout from Lively’s injury led to a fiery clash between head of health Johann Bilsborough and strength coach Keith Belton. Guess who’s packing up? Belton’s out. Bilsborough reportedly stays.

This isn’t just a one-off. It’s the latest in a string of injury missteps for a team that’s been duct-taping its roster all season. Fans called out when Lively was ruled “day-to-day” and then… boom, he’s out 2–3 months with a stress fracture? That’s not a tweak.

Mavs GM Nico Harrison told ESPN the team did catch the fracture just in time. “The medical team knew it was something more, and so that’s why they went and tested him again and saw the CT scan… they actually avoided a potential catastrophic injury.” Still, if internal disagreements are delaying accurate diagnoses, Dallas has bigger problems than playoff seeding. Lively’s health just exposed all of it.

(This is a developing story)