Injured Kyrie Irving reacts to Dallas Mavericks ‘handling business’ to keep playoffs dreams alive

NBA star Kyrie Irving made his thoughts known on the Mavs' recent win against the Kings in the NBA Play-In Tournament.

Injured Kyrie Irving reacts to Dallas Mavericks ‘handling business’ to keep playoffs dreams alive

Kyrie Irving

The Dallas Mavericks have been through it all this 2024-25 NBA season, from injuries to heartbreak to immense joy. After the Los Angeles Lakers signed their best player, Luka Doncic, things got worse for the Mavs. This was when the team ruled out their star Kyrie Irving for the season after he suffered a horrific ACL injury to his knee.

To make matters worse, over the past few months, the Mavs were playing without 6-7 staters as they were all injured. Despite all this, the gritty Mavs side, with the addition of Anthony Davis to their roster, are one step away from the NBA Playoffs. Notably, Irving was the happiest of all as he took to his X to put forward his views on his side’s win over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.

YouTube video

Yessir @dallasmavs way to handle business tonight!! MFFL Tribe🤞🏾🪶♾, stay together no matter what.

Kyrie Irving wrote on X

Wednesday night, the Mavs trounced the Sacramento Kings 120-106, helped along by a second-quarter score of 44 points. Klay Thompson contributed 23 points on 5 of 7 three-point shooting, while Anthony Davis led the way with 27 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks. With 33 points, DeMar DeRozan led the Kings in a losing effort.

Given that the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference playoffs is still up for grabs, the Mavs’ next game is against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night. However, without Kyrie Irving, this game will be a huge ask for the Mavs’ stars, but they will have to turn it up if they are to qualify for the NBA playoffs.

After the unthinkable Luka Doncic trade, the Mavericks will undoubtedly link themselves to the Los Angeles Lakers for the time being, and the Lakers have already secured a postseason berth. The criticism of Nico Harrison and Patrick Dumont will only grow if the Mavericks lose on Friday.

Mavs receive positive Kyrie Irving injury update

One thing the Mavs’ fanbase should be happy going into the next 2025-26 NBA season is that the early return of their star Kyrie Irving, per ESPN. According to sources who spoke to ESPN’s Shams Charania on Wednesday, there is hope that Irving, the star of the Dallas Mavericks, can fully recover and make a comeback from his ruptured left ACL by January 2026.

According to the sources, the team also anticipates that Irving will be able to play a significant portion of the 2025–2026 campaign after his return. Following an ACL surgery like Irving’s, recuperation usually takes six to twelve months. However, the star has stepped up his recovery process in a bid to return as soon as possible.

This season, the 33-year-old Irving averaged 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists. He signed a three-year, $126 million contract in 2023, with a $43 million player option for the 2025–2026 season. However, the Mavs will be looking to offer him a 2-3 year deal instead of going with the player option for 1 year.

Mavs’ GM Nico Harrison made his views clear on the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade

Since the blockbuster Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade, the Mavericks’ GM, Nico Harrison, has been under a lot of criticism from the NBA community as well as his own fan base. However, Harrison has been adamant that ‘defense wins championships.’ He has used this phrase multiple times since February and repeated this again in a recent closed-door press conference.

But our philosophy, like I said, going forward is defense wins championships and we’re built on defense. And this trade cements us for that.

Nico Harrison said

For now, the trade has not gone well on the Mavs’ side, mostly because Davis has often been injured this season. Since suffering a left adductor strain during his Mavericks debut, Davis has only appeared in nine games while wearing the Mavericks outfit. Given that the Mavericks have played 34 games since the trade due to injuries, it is far too soon to assess the move’s on-court results.