While some of the Dallas Mavericks’ wounds are self-inflicted — trading away Luka Doncic, let alone doing it for pennies on the dollar; or raising season ticket prices not long after — they also have been incredibly unlucky. In his first game as a Maverick, Anthony Davis strained his adductor (groin), and his return timeline is unclear. That was on top of their other centers, Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford missing extended time with injuries.
Kyrie Irving suffering a torn ACL was worse. Losing the team’s primary shot creator not only ended any dreams of a deep playoff run, but it’s also an injury that will bleed into next season. It has left the Mavericks at a crossroads.
Irving, for his part, said he is doing okay and moving forward during a session on Instagram Live (quotes via The Dallas Morning News).
“It hasn’t been 48 hours since I tore my ACL, but the recovery process already started mentally, spiritually, emotionally. So just wanted to let you guys know I’m OK and I will be OK moving forward. It does suck a lot. I ain’t gonna lie to you guys. This one stings for sure, but I have a great support system around me. I have incredible family members and friends, and I know I’m supported not just here in America, but internationally. And I’m not on this journey alone…
“When you fall down nine times, you get up 10. I don’t know any other strategy,” he continued. “It’s just when you fall down, you get back up, and there’s no time to feel bad for yourself or feel sorry, feel the emotions, but this is part of it.”
There has been speculation about how much Irving’s workload and increased minutes in the wake of the stunning Doncic trade might have worn him down and led to this injury — he was playing more than 39 minutes a night. Mavericks coach Jason Kidd tried to dispel that narrative, calling the injury a “freak accident,” via Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News.
“The load didn’t have anything to do with the injury,” Kidd said. “We’re talking about one play. It’s a freak accident. That’s how it should be reported, but we’re not reporting it right. We’re reporting on conspiracy theories. We want our stars to play as many minutes [as possible]. This isn’t supposed to be a ‘rest’ league. Kai is our leader. Kai was playing [high] minutes. He also was playing at a high level, maybe some of the best basketball that he’s played in his career. And it’s all right to play 40 minutes. We can’t talk from both sides and say that our stars don’t play enough minutes or guys don’t play enough.”
Irving landed on the fine line the league attempts to walk. On the one hand, the league needs its stars to play in the regular season for the good of the product and ticket sales (and to make broadcast partners happy), which is why the league put in things like the 65-game threshold to win postseason awards such as MVP or be named to an All-NBA team. Conversely, tired muscles provide less support for ligaments and tendons, making injuries more likely. In a world where franchises are judged on postseason success, it’s not a surprise teams are still looking for ways to get their best players rest, particularly over the final weeks of the season heading to the playoffs. Other teams can see what happened to Irving as both a freak accident and a cautionary tale.
With Irving, hopefully he can regain his form when he returns next season — he has been a joy to watch this season.
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