Per Tim MacMahon, Irving is already ramping up and doing one-on-one sessions, wherein the post-All-Star break stands as his target return to full practice.
The work continues for Kyrie Irving as he aims to get back to the court sooner for the Dallas Mavericks.
Dallas Mavericks / Schedule
In the Howdy Partners show, Tim MacMahon of ESPN revealed that Irving is already ramping up and has been doing a lot of one-on-one stuff on his current rehabilitation process from his ACL injury.
"What I can tell you about the Kyrie situation right now is he is ramping up to return to practice," MacMahon said. "He’s been working hard all season long and for months now, doing off-the-dribble stuff. I’m told he has been playing one-on-one, primarily against coaches and staffers, and operating against dummy defenses, simulating five-man sets like pick-and-roll reads.
"The goal is to get him back into practice probably after the All-Star break."
Irving tore his left ACL last March for the Mavericks. He was projected to miss a huge portion of this 2025-26 season.
With Irving on the sidelines, the Mavs significantly struggled. They are currently 3.5 games away from the final Play-In spot with a 19-28 record.
There were reports that due to their awful standing, the Mavs might ultimately postpone Irving's play and let him miss the rest of the season. Head coach Jason Kidd already dismissed the speculations.
As such, MacMahon noted that Irving's return won't be easy since the star guard also has to fulfill his mental aspect after the long layoff he took from the grinding recovery.
"Jason Kidd was asked about his return to games and said step one is getting him back to practice, then checking a lot of boxes—not just physical ones like how his knee is responding, but the mental boxes as well," he said. "For a guy to get back on the floor in a game, he has to clear those mental hurdles.
"With knee injuries like this—Jamal Murray sat out an entire season after an ACL—there’s still no certainty on Kyrie at this point."
Support BasketNews so we could make even better content.
If you like our content, please click here and add us as your preferred source. It helps us a lot, and we are committed to delivering you the very latest basketball news.