On Wednesday, the Dallas Mavericks were on the wrong end of results as they fell short to the Minnesota Timberwolves 105-99. However, while the defeat on Christmas Day was disappointing the major concern was the injury sustained by their Slovenian star Luka Doncic, who left the court hobbling.

Doncic sustained a calf strain which was supposed to keep him on the sidelines for some time. But, now ESPN’s Shams Charania reports that the Mavericks are preparing themselves for the worse as Doncic is set to miss an extended amount of time. He further added, “Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic will be re-evaluated in one month after sustaining a left calf strain on Christmas Day, sources tell ESPN.”

This would be a massive blow not only for Dallas and their playoff aspirations but, also for the Slovenian star, who will be in a race with time to maintain his eligibility for all the major NBA awards this season due to the league’s 65-game rule. The 25-year-old has already missed eight games this season and if he ends up being sidelined for a month he could miss more than 20 games.

This would mean Doncic will be out of contention for accolades such as the MVP, All-NBA teams, and more. Additionally, he has been named in the All-NBA First Team for each of the last five seasons and that streak would come to an end if he misses more than 17 games which seems to be the case at the moment. This has sent not only the Mavs faithful but the whole NBA community into a frenzy, let’s see how they have reacted to Doncic’s injury update.

“Might be the worst Christmas Day ever.” Mavericks fans react to Doncic’s latest injury update

Losing the game and your best player due to injury does tick all the boxes for a bad Christmas day as one fan shared his thoughts on Luka Doncic’s injury update saying “Might be the worst Christmas Day ever.” The frustration seems justified given that Doncic will be re-evaluated after a month which will have a massive impact on Dallas’ season.

Another person questioned if the Mavericks are competitive enough to navigate without Luka as he wrote, “Hopefully, he can get back sooner rather than later because they won’t make the playoffs with a long absence of Doncic.” Well, Doncic is the team’s best player averaging 28.1 points highest amongst the Mavs, and also leads in rebounds with 8.3 and assists with 7.8 per game.

At the same time, one follower wrote, “all nba first-team streak ended” raising concerns over Doncic’s impressive All-Star streak which seems to be at the risk of being snapped with this latest update. He has made it to five straight All-NBA teams and will definitely be in contention if he can manage to play the 65 games necessary.

Fans of other franchises also shared their thoughts on the matter as a Suns fan stated, “Suns fan here, I know, and I gotta say I hate to see this. Luka will get back. You gotta be careful with the calf though because historically the Achilles is at risk. Luka’s a hell of a competitor.” giving his take on the matter suggesting the Mavs star to be careful even after his return to the court. 

Some fans even have placed their faith in Luka’s teammate and veteran Kyrie Irving who will need to step up in the guard’s absence. He wrote, “Kyrie Irving MVP Campaign starts NOW” Well the Mavericks do need someone to lead the charge in Doncic’s absence, and who better than the 32-year-old seasoned pro Irving?

It seems Luka Doncic will be hugely missed by the Mavericks faithful and for valid reasons given he’s their best player. As for how Dallas will navigate through this? Only time will tell. But, one thing is certain other players such as Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson will need to be at their very best until his return.