Kai Jones had his appearance cut short during the Mavs-Magic game tonight due to an injury. Jones has been filling in for the Dallas Mavericks after their frontcourt was devastated by injuries. But what went down tonight’s game has coach Jason Kidd keeping his fingers crossed, hoping that the young upstart didn’t hurt himself too badly.

So what happened exactly? Well, Jones was on fire early in the first quarter. And after blocking a shot from Franz Wagner, he sprinted across the floor to score from a Naji Marshall lob. But his landing…Now that was not something you want to see. It was hard, awkward, and it looked very painful as he came crashing down onto the floor on his back. And just like that, Kai’s night was over despite him attempting to trudge on.

So after the game, Jason Kidd spoke to the media about Jones’ injury. The media asked Kidd if he could perhaps help Kai tone down his style of play just a notch. Kidd responded, saying, “I don’t know if you can temper that. But the athleticism is at a high level… [Jones] has a heck of a catch and an unbelievable finish. But unfortunately, he landed, you know, on his back, so we just got to figure out how to make plays without getting hurt and hopefully he’s not out for a long time.” 

It seems Kidd is taking a hands-off approach with this one despite the Mavs being virtually out of frontcourt options. But given how much Kai has proven himself since becoming a regular in the Mavs’ lineup, we’d say he’s earned the benefit of the doubt.

Nonetheless, watching it live, Kai’s landing did look scary. And his teammate, Anthony Davis, revealed how he thought Jones would have reacted to the injury.

Anthony Davis was in disbelief after Kai Jones’ fall

When you see a teammate get injured, your first thought is probably, “Ooh, that’s not good,” or something to that effect. And that’s how AD felt after watching Kai Jones land right on his tailbone. He spoke to the media after the games and made his feelings clear.

“Awkward landing. When he popped right up and tried to run down the floor, I just. I didn’t believe it. But then, s–t kicked in for him, man. That’s what I was like, okay, that’s exactly how you should be feeling, you know, landing right on his tailbone. So, I mean, he looked fine moving around, but I know when he wake up, he’s going to be a little sore,” revealed AD.

As someone who’s been in the NBA since he was a teenager, Anthony Davis knows all about hard landings and the injuries that come from them. So it’s natural that he knew what was going to happen to Kai after the way he fell onto the floor. But Kai’s defiant nature was clearly a shock to the former NBA champion as well.

And AD also revealed how it’s still unclear how serious this injury to Kai Jones really is. “We’re kind of waiting to see what his status is,” revealed the former NBA champion. Given how Jones landed, it does look like this injury will sideline him for a game at least.

But his exact status is only known to coach Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks medical staff. But don’t worry, we’ll get you the details on Kai Jones’ injury as soon as they’re available!