The Dallas Mavericks said Sunday they did nothing wrong after Lakers coach JJ Redick accused their medical staff of scanning the wrong area of Austin Reaves’ body during an MRI in Dallas.
Redick said Saturday, “I don’t know where the chain of command lies with Dallas imaging, but uh, they scanned the wrong area.” He added, “Not on our end. We made it explicit what was supposed to be scanned, but they scanned the wrong area.”
The Mavericks pushed back in an official statement, saying their medical team “followed standard imaging protocols based on the information provided at the time” and that “there was no error in the scan performed.” The dispute centers on imaging done for a visiting Lakers player while the teams were in Dallas two days after Reaves suffered a Grade 2 left oblique injury Thursday in the loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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Reaves was visibly playing through discomfort before he exited that game for good in the third quarter, and he is expected to be sidelined four to six weeks. The same game also left Luka Dončić with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain, and Dončić flew to Spain on Sunday to receive treatment on his injury.
The timing gives the disagreement extra weight. The Lakers were in fourth place in the Western Conference with less than a week left in the regular season, and every missed game matters as the playoffs approach.
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That backdrop also helps explain why the medical dispute drew attention after the fact. The Mavericks beat the Lakers 134-128 on Sunday and snapped a 14-game home losing streak, with rookie forward Cooper Flagg scoring 45 points, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing nine assists in the win.
For the Lakers, the immediate issue is Reaves’ recovery window. For Dallas, the issue is whether its staff followed the right process for a player who was not on its roster but was being imaged while the teams shared the same city. Sunday’s statement leaves no room for ambiguity from the Mavericks’ side: they say the scan was done correctly.
