The news of Kyrie Irving’s injury has taken the NBA world by storm this week, as it has been confirmed that his torn ACL has taken him out of the rest of the 2024-25 season. Unfortunately for the Mavericks, the veteran was playing some of the best basketball of his career, and carrying the franchise without Luka Doncic.
The question now is, for how long will the superstar be out of action? With the injury on his left knee, fans are wondering about the amount of time it takes to recover from a torn ACL in the basketball world. According to sources nearby, the 32-year-old will need at least six months to recover.
This means that the Dallas guard should be returning around the same time that the NBA teams start to report for training camp for the 2025-26 season, of which Irving has a $44 million player option. Irving had earned his ninth All-Star appearance this year, and was averaging 24.7 points per contest.
“That’s just who, I mean, Kai’s a tough guy,” said his coach Jason Kidd. “I asked him as they were taking him off the court, ‘Are you good if you leave without shooting? You’re ruled out.’ So they took him to the free-throw line, and he shot the free throws and then we got him out.”
Almost in disbelief, the Mavericks tactician then added: “It seems every time we get close to getting somebody back, someone goes down. Tonight, both Hardy and Kai go down. So, we’re running out of bodies here.”
The injury occurred in the first quarter of Dallas’ 122-98 defeat against Sacramento this Monday night, as the veteran was fouled by rival DeMar DeRocan on a drive to the rim, when his right foot landed on Jonas Valanciunas. Kyrie proceeded to make two free throws with tears on his eyes, before leaving the court in pain.
This is no doubt his club’s biggest setback of the campaign, even though they have already lost 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis to a groin injury during his Mavericks’ debut, following the blockbuster trade that sent Doncic to Los Angeles.
“Setting aside whether you think the Mavericks should have made the Luka Doncic trade, the fact that the Mavericks would make that trade and then not trade for more guard help to avoid putting such a massive burden on Kyrie alone was very odd from the jump,” recently wrote NBA reporter Tim Bontemps.
