Luckless Australian NBA guard Dante Exum suffers ‘serious’ wrist injury

Dante Exum just can’t catch a break, with the Australian NBA star suffering another setback.

Dante Exum just can’t catch a break.

According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Dallas Mavericks guard sustained a “serious” right wrist injury during training camp that could require surgery.

It would be the latest setback in Exum’s career, having recently dislocated his finger in the second quarter of Australia’s exhibition game against France ahead of the Paris Olympics.

Dallas Mavericks G Dante Exum has sustained a serious right wrist injury that could require surgery, sources tell @TheAthletic. Treatment options are being evaluated for Exum, who emerged as a key reserve guard on Mavs NBA Finals run last season. Tough early season blow for Mavs. pic.twitter.com/NZXqc0UET8

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 4, 2024

Exum also suffered a head knock in the lead-up to the Games and missed 22 games for Dallas last season with a plantar fascia sprain in his right foot and then right knee bursitis.

It was an achievement for Exum to even get back to the NBA while performing at the level he was with the Mavericks, having recovered from an injury-plagued start to his career.

Exum played all 82 games of his rookie campaign after being drafted by the Utah Jazz before suffering a torn ACL which saw him miss the entire 2015-16 season.

He then underwent shoulder surgery in October of 2017, later going on to also suffer an ankle sprain, bone bruise and partially torn patellar tendon in his right knee before being traded by the Jazz.

Dante Exum suffered another setback. Sam Hodde/Getty Images/AFP

Speaking to reporters at media day this week, Exum said he felt like he was “contributing just as much” at the end of last season even if the box score didn’t necessarily show he was as involved as before his latest injuries.

“I was playing really well and you can look at the stats and all that and say I was playing amazing,” he said.

“Getting back into line-ups and fighting, it was hard but I think for the minutes and opportunities I was given, I was doing the most I could. The stats weren’t the same but if you look at it as a basketball mind, I feel like I was contributing just as much.”

Exum also said he was not limited in practice after suffering the finger injury at the Olympics, adding that his biggest focus in the offseason had been the backdown game and working on short corner pick-and-rolls.

“I think it’s something I can get to a lot so hopefully I can implement that a lot this year,” he said at the time.

Originally published as Luckless Australian NBA guard Dante Exum suffers ‘serious’ wrist injury