Inside the Mavericks' power struggle: Nico Harrison vs. Mark Cuban - ESPN

THE DALLAS MAVERICKS, mired in the misery of a four-game losing streak amid the chaos that had overwhelmed the franchise for the past nine months, sat on the tarmac at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C.

It was bad enough that the Mavs had been blown out hours earlier in Memphis in a matchup between two teams in early-season tailspins. Now, the buses scheduled to transport the traveling party to the hotel were delayed by red tape.

After almost an hour, the first of the team's two buses arrived. Weary players boarded for the ride to the Four Seasons in Georgetown, arriving after 3 a.m. ET. They expected some good news the next day, which All-Star big man Anthony Davis and his personal medical team — as well as former general manager Nico Harrison — had targeted as his return date from a low-grade left calf strain.

Those plans changed the next afternoon, hours before tipoff against the Washington Wizards, when Mavs governor Patrick Dumont stepped in at the last minute to put Davis' return on hold, according to team sources.

Dumont acted on the advice of Mavs director of health and performance Johann Bilsborough, who had thrown up a late caution flag, concerned that Davis was at risk of aggravating the calf strain or sustaining a related catastrophic injury.

This marked the first time Dumont had directly involved himself in the Mavs' daily basketball operations since acquiring a majority stake in the team in December 2023.

It was also the most public and direct indication that the trust he had developed in Harrison, which was so strong last season that Dumont signed off on the most controversial trade in NBA history without seeking any other opinions, had completely disintegrated.

Davis' availability at