Has an NBA team faced forfeiture before? Closer look at Dallas Mavericks potential roster crisis

The Dallas Mavericks are in an unprecedented situation due to their many injuries. The Mavericks currently have eight active players on the roster, the minimum required to field a team for an NBA game. Failure to have eight active players for game time would cause the Mavericks to forfeit the game, a scenario that has never happened in the NBA's history.

The Maverick's issues stem from injuries, cap issues and contract limitations. Kessler Edwards and Brandon Williams are on two-way contracts, meaning they can only be active for 50 games during the season. Edwards has three more games he can be active for, while Williams has six.

Once Edwards has been active for 50 games, the Dallas Mavericks would be under the minimum eight players required to field a roster and have to forfeit games.

In addition, the Mavericks are incapable of signing any more players to their roster since they are currently positioned just under the first apron of the hard cap due to the team actively trying to compete for a championship before the injuries. Their current cap situation prevents them from signing anyone from free agency since they already triggered the hard cap with the signings of Klay Thompson and Naji Marshall.

With the Dallas Mavericks fighting for a play-in position to keep their season alive, forfeiting games would be an absolute doomsday scenario. It would be one thing for the Mavericks to lose out and miss the playoffs, but not even getting the chance to compete on a nightly basis would be a disaster for everyone involved.

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Dallas Mavericks fan shares depressing statistic on number of season-ending injuries for the Mavs since Christmas Day

The Dallas Mavericks are experiencing a historic amount of injury trouble as they try to finish out the NBA regular season and potentially qualify for the playoffs. Eight players are listed as out on the injury report, with two more listed as game-time decisions before their Sunday afternoon game against the Philadelphia 76ers.

One Dallas Mavericks fan took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a statistic on the current state of the Mavericks and their injury woes:

"Since Christmas day, if you were to watch any single Dallas Mavericks game, you'd have an 18% chance to witness a season ending injury to a player on the team"

The Mavericks have played 39 games, including Christmas Day, with seven players who have suffered what are believed to be season-ending injuries sustained during games. That adds up to about an 18 percent chance of a Dallas player suffering a season-ending injury during any given game from Christmas Day onward.

It's a harsh reality for the Dallas Mavericks and their fans. They find themselves battling to keep their season alive every single game. They hold on to the final play-in spot, with the Phoenix Suns sitting only 1.5 games back.