DALLAS—Kyrie Irving’s season is toast, and so are the Dallas Mavericks’ playoff dreams. The nine-time All-Star tore his left ACL against the Sacramento Kings on Monday, March 3, 2025, leaving the team to announce a day later that their star guard’s campaign ends at 50 games—24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists on 59.4% true shooting. At 32, Irving was the last thread holding this unraveling roster together, and now he’s gone, thanks to a knee that bent the wrong way on a drive late in the first quarter. But before hobbling off, he gave us a moment of pure grit—sinking two free throws while barely able to stand—that proves he’s a different beast from the guy who dodged games over COVID and “stupid war things” a few years back.
Kyrie’s Kobe Moment Amid the Chaos
Picture this: Irving goes down hard after tangling with Jonas Valančiūnas and DeMar DeRozan, clutching his knee for minutes as the American Airlines Center holds its breath. Then, with Anthony Davis (who?) and a staffer propping him up, he limps to the line, steadies himself, and drills both free throws to cut the Kings’ lead to 23-18. It’s 2013 Kobe Bryant with a ruptured Achilles all over again—pure toughness, no quit. He didn’t just carry the Mavericks on his back this season; he carried them to that line, too, before exiting to the locker room, ruled out with what they first called a “knee sprain.” Spoiler: it was way worse. Props to Kyrie—he didn’t just play through pain; he stared it down and swished it.
Contrast that with the Kyrie of 2021, sitting out Nets games over vaccine mandates, or 2022, when he missed time amid his cryptic “war on consciousness” rants. That Kyrie was a riddle wrapped in an enigma, frustrating fans with absences that felt more philosophical than physical. This Kyrie? He’s a warrior who averaged 38.7 minutes per game since January 17—the most in the NBA—because the Mavericks had no one else to lean on after trading Luka Dončić. That workload, post a bulging disc injury in January, probably snapped his knee like a twig. Dallas ran him into the ground, and he still gave them everything.
The Dončić Trade: A Dumpster Fire Keeps Burning
Speaking of that trade—let’s crap on it again, because it deserves it. Trading Luka Dončić, a 25-year-old MVP-caliber supernova, to the Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 pick was the dumbest move since the Mavericks thought Jason Terry could guard LeBron in 2011. Davis, a 31-year-old with a medical chart longer than a CVS receipt, lasted one game—Feb. 8—before a groin injury sidelined him. He’s due for a reevaluation Thursday, but with Irving out, who cares? The Mavericks are 32-30, clinging to the West’s No. 10 spot, 3½ games ahead of Phoenix for the last play-in berth. Without Kyrie, that cushion’s as sturdy as a house of cards in a windstorm.
Online, the trade’s a punching bag. X posts like @SupremeAce_’s “trading away luka doncic is the biggest fumble in dallas mavericks history” and @Quinn11Jules’ “one of the worst trades I’ve ever seen” echo the sentiment: this was shortsighted lunacy. Forbes (March 5) called it a “laughingstock” move that “slammed shut” Dallas’s title window—especially now with Irving down. They went from Finals runners-up in 2024, powered by Luka and Kyrie, to a team that might miss the playoffs entirely. Nico Harrison’s “win now and win later” pitch looks like a bad infomercial, and fans are stuck with the broken product.
A Cursed Roster and a Glimmer of Hope
The Mavericks are a walking MASH unit. Davis is out, Daniel Gafford (knee) and Dereck Lively II (unspecified) are TBD Thursday, PJ Washington tweaked an ankle Saturday, and trade-deadline pickup Caleb Martin hasn’t played yet (hip). Jason Kidd’s postgame lament—“every time we’re getting close to getting somebody back, someone goes down”—sounds like a coach watching his team sink in quicksand. They’re 3-7 this year without both Luka and Kyrie, per ESPN, and now it’s just “without Kyrie” for good. Klay Thompson’s the last starter standing, and he’s not exactly a one-man offense.
Kyrie’s injury—likely keeping him out well into 2025-26—tanks a season already on life support. He was the lone shot-creator after Luka’s exit, averaging 25 points pre-injury and keeping Dallas afloat despite a minus-8.5 point differential sans both guards. He carried them so hard his ACL said, “Nah, I’m out.” If Davis returns soon, maybe they limp into the play-in. But this roster’s too battered, and the Dončić trade’s stench too strong, for anything more. The Lakers, meanwhile, are title contenders with Luka thriving. Funny how that works.
From Flake to Fighter
Kyrie’s free-throw heroics weren’t just clutch—they were a middle finger to his old rep. The COVID sit-outs and war-tinged absences painted him as flaky, but Monday showed a guy who’d rather limp through hell than let his team down. That’s the Kyrie Dallas needed, and the one they overworked into oblivion. The Mavericks’ front office, though? They deserve the real crap here—trading a generational talent for a fragile big man and a prayer. Irving’s toughness can’t fix that. Rest up, Kai—you earned it. Dallas? Good luck digging out of this self-made grave.
Leave a comment