Lakers ditching 'slippery' NBA Cup court for Anthony Davis' return

The Los Angeles Lakers will play their final NBA Cup game against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday, but they won't be on their special NBA Cup court.

After beating the Los Angeles Clippers on the court that Rui Hachimura called "oily, slippery" on Tuesday, the Lakers will return to their normal playing surface. That's good for every player's safety, but especially for the return of former Laker Anthony Davis, playing his first game at the Crypto.com Arena since the trade that sent him to Dallas.

Anthony Davis needs every precaution to stay healthy

No one should be playing on a court where there's a risk of slipping and falling, but Davis must take extra caution. He's only participated in 14 of the Mavericks' 52 regular-season games since joining Dallas. This season, Davis suffered a calf strain in the fifth game, an injury that has kept him out for the last 14 contests, during which the Mavericks are 3-11.

The Lakers are used to seeing Davis sidelined. From 2020-23, "The Brow" missed 104 games, as the Lakers followed up a 2020 title with a first-round loss in 2021 and missed the playoffs entirely in 2022. Dallas traded Luka Doncic for Davis in February, ostensibly out of fear that Doncic's poor conditioning would lead to injuries. Despite this, Doncic has played more than 3.5 times as many minutes as the 32-year-old, thanks to Davis exiting early in two of his 14 games.

The Mavericks have been careful in bringing back Davis, who will sit out Saturday's bout against the Clippers. He'll try to show his old team what they're missing — when he's actually on the court.