Is Daniel Gafford all right? A question that would be going through the minds of the attendees at the Paycom Center, as the matchup between OKC and the Mavs is underway. It is no secret that the Texas side has been dealing with a precarious situation, with the injuries of Luka Doncic, and most recently Dereck Lively II, threatening their playoff hopes. The last thing the squad would’ve wanted was to limit their offensive bite any further, especially when going up against the team that had tied the Cavaliers for the best win record this season! Unfortunately, the course of events took such a turn- putting the Mavericks in deeper trouble.

As the game approached halftime, with the OKC leading by 62-60, Daniel Gafford was seen having a major fall. The player reportedly called for a member of the training staff to come over, as his neck area seemed to have been affected. After a slight delay from the staff, the ailment was serious enough to send Gafford to the locker room. And the 3rd quarter began but he had not returned.

If going on a 4-9 run wasn’t enough tension for Dallas Mavericks fans, then another key player going down with an injury would’ve been frustrating enough. Turns out the injury wasn’t serious enough to keep Gafford out for long, but that didn’t stop the fans’ fury. Therefore, it didn’t take long for the blame game to commence on social media.

Mavericks fans take a shot at training staff, after they did not “immediately” attend to Daniel Gafford’s injury, amidst a stacked injury report

One social media user wrote, “Training staff waited way too long to go out there. If thats how they handle other issues then no wonder the team has had so many issues this year”.

This isn’t the first time criticism has been levied upon the Dallas Mavericks training staff. X users have put out their dismay for them through the last few days. One even went on to highlight that Jason Kidd allegedly had a “passive coaching style”, which was putting the Mavericks in trouble. With 7 players listed as ‘OUT’ for the OKC game, someone had to take responsibility.

Social media users continued asking, “Why didn’t the training staff immediately go to him?!” and “What are the staff doing? Why don’t they go to him immediately?😭”.

According to a report by RotoWire, Gafford had stayed down on the court “for an extended period”. He had to call for the training staff to come, and around the same time, teammates and opponents had already started to gather around him. While the response by the training staff was a bit delayed there, we really cannot blame fans for wanting the Mavericks player to receive immediate care.

One individual wanted to take the blame game somewhere else entirely. He took to the comments section and wrote, “NBA refs are going to be the reason someone gets very seriously hurt!”. There is nothing to indicate that NBA referees had a role in Daniel Gafford’s injury. However, blaming the officials for other on-game situations has become a pattern now.

From Stephen Curry revealing that he has “thrown a mouthpiece or two” in frustration over some referee calls to Anthony Edwards calling the officiating “f–k–g terrible” and subsequently getting fined $75,000 over it, several prominent personalities have been dissatisfied with the way the officiating has gone.

One fan was dismayed at the turn of events, writing, “Not another injury”, accompanied by a crying emoji. Fortunately, Daniel Gafford’s injury was only a minor one, and he returned to the bench soon. As highlighted by Grant Afseth, Gafford was placed in the starting lineup of the second half, alongside Kyrie Irving, Spencer Dinwiddie, Kessler Edwards, and P.J. Washington.

One social media user reacted to Gafford’s injury, “We are cursed wow”.

Well, not necessarily. They hit a setback, but certainly not “cursed”. After all, whether it was Gafford’s return or something else, the Mavs gained a confidence boost in the game’s second half. They were up 99-88 vs. the Thunder as 8:47 minutes remained in the 4th quarter. Daniel Gafford, himself, earlier achieved multiple stops against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the paint before checking out.

A fan wished for something else entirely, writing “These injuries should be happening to the Celtics and okc. This is cooked”, accompanied by a few crying emojis. OKC and the C’s may have been named because they hold the top win records in the ongoing season. That is, alongside the Cleveland Cavaliers. Therefore, if any team can afford to lose a few games due to injuries, it is them.

Overall, most reactions were filled with criticism, handed to the coaching staff, and referees, or displaying a general dismay towards ‘another’ injury. Fortunately, the Mavericks went on to win the matchup against the Thunder by a score of 121-115. So, while things may have hit a steep pothole during the middle of the game, all’s well that ends well!