Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic will sit out Friday’s contest vs. the Memphis Grizzlies citing “personal reasons” the team confirmed.
Also out is reserve guard Dante Exum for the same reason, as both players were officially added to the injury report at 12:30pm ET. Doncic, who is averaging 31.1pts/8reb/7.9ast per game, will sit out his first contest of the 2023-24 campaign.
While not initially listed on the injury report to start the week, the 4x All-NBA first team guard will turn over the keys to the Mavs offense to Kyrie Irving. Dallas is also in action on Saturday vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder, leading many to believe this is simply an opportunity for the team to rest their All-Star guard vs. a struggling opponent. At this time, Doncic’s status for Saturday isn’t feared to be in jeopardy.
The Mavericks currently sit 4th in the Western Conference with an 11-6 record, and boast an impressive 5-2 mark at home this year. On the other end of the spectrum, Memphis has struggled without star guard Ja Morant and reside in 14th place in the conference at 4-13.
Morant, who was suspended 25 games by the NBA for repeated off court violations, is eligible to return on December 19th against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.