Longtime sports trainer Casey Smith’s responsibilities with the Dallas Mavericks have been expanded. Since 2018, he has served as Luka Doncic’s personal trainer.

Casey Smith, who has been the athletic trainer for the Dallas Mavericks for many years, will have less contact with Luka Doncic and the rest of his teammates this season. According to a report by Tim Cato of The Athletic, Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison told Smith that he will play a more significant role in the 2023-24 NBA season.

Because Casey Smith has taken on a more prominent role with the Mavericks team, Doncic will not see him as frequently in the locker room and on the bench as he did in previous seasons. Moving forward, those responsibilities will be assumed by Dionne Calhoun, who is now the head athletic trainer. On the other side, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Mavericks forward Dwight Harrison will continue their negotiations with Smith. They are going to talk about his role in the NBA for the 2024–25 season and beyond.

In light of this, insiders close to the Mavericks believe that Smith’s future with the organization beyond the terms of his current contract is uncertain. The job contract calls for him to work for the company for one more year.

The impact that Casey Smith has had on Luka Doncic’s growth can not be overstated.

Since the year 2004, Casey Smith has been a member of the Mavericks organization. During his 19 years with the organization, he has formed strong ties with players such as Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki, and Luka Doncic. When the Mavericks won their first NBA championship in 2011, Casey Smith was in the midst of his sixth season with the team.

Throughout his career, Smith, the athletic trainer for Team USA squads that won gold at the Olympics on two separate occasions, has maintained very close ties with the players. According to what was reported by Tim McMahon of ESPN, “He was a member of the Mavericks’ committee that traveled to Slovenia for Luka Doncic’s supermax press conference.”

In the modern NBA, Luka Doncic is the player who most closely resembles “Pistol Pete” Maravich. Casey Smith, who has been his athletic trainer ever since he made his debut in the NBA five years ago, deserves a portion of the credit for this accomplishment.

Luka Doncic has emerged as the public face of the Dallas Mavericks club and is in the running to become the first player in the NBA to earn $70 million.  Doncic and Kyrie Irving will spearhead the push for Dallas, which will be making its first appearance in the postseason in the previous four years after failing to qualify.