No let up in bad luck for Mavs point guard Dante Exum

If there’s one NBA player plagued by injuries lately, it’s Dante Exum. The Mavericks point guard has moved from one misfortune after another, has suffered yet another setback and will miss the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery.

This was announced by Shams Charania of ESPN, who confirmed that the talented player’s luck continues to flag and that he’ll be watching the remainder of the basketball season on television. This also causes another blow for his current team, as Dallas seem to be adrift and can only manage to accumulate setbacks, especially since Luka Doncic left for the Lakers on February 1st.

Australia born Dante Exum (30 years old, 6′5″) was a promising player, considered one of the most promising of his generation. Selected fifth overall in the first round of the 2014 NBA draft, the point guard played for the Jazz and the Cavaliers, but never quite found his footing in the world’s best league. He decided to move to the EuroLeague, first joining Barcelona and later Partizan. In 2023, he returned to the NBA, where he played for the Mavericks and shared the court with Luka Doncic, as well as players like Kyrie Irving and, more recently, a declining Klay Thompson.

Injury plagued

However, injuries have always plagued him. In 2023-24, the year the Mavericks reached the NBA Finals thanks to Doncic (losing 4-1 to the Celtics), he was only able to play 55 games due to various physical problems, and although he was present in the playoffs, his role was considerably reduced. In the summer of 2024, he injured his wrist and ended up undergoing surgery, so he was only able to play in 20 games. This year he had high hopes, but he injured his knee, and although initially the treatment was conservative, he has had to undergo surgery and will miss the rest of the season.

At 30 years old and with his long history of injuries, it’s going to be difficult to see the Exum who made a name for himself in his native Australia, where he excelled before making the leap to the NBA. His athleticism has diminished, and his improvement in three-point shooting over the last two seasons is negligible. With an increasingly limited role, his future is uncertain. This is disheartening for a point guard who was a World Cup runner-up with his national team in 2012 and won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics. Much was expected of him, but ultimately that hasn’t been possible due to the misfortunes that have plagued him, allowing him to showcase his talent only sporadically.

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