About one month removed from the blockbuster NBA trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, the Dallas Mavericks suffered another major blow that could doom their season.
On Monday against the Sacramento Kings, Irving went down in the first quarter after driving to the hoop for a layup attempt with Kings' Jonas Valanciunas and DeMar DeRozan draped all over him.
Unfortunately, Irving lost his balance and landed awkwardly. After hitting his free throws, the former Duke point guard left the game, never to return. Turns out, Irving suffered a torn ACL, ending his year and putting his 2025-26 season at risk.
Over his final 10 games of the season, Irving had played the most minutes in the NBA, averaging 39.3 minutes. With this information, fans decided to blame his playtime and his coach, Jason Kidd, as the reason for his injury.
On Monday, Irving made a post on his Instagram Story, responding to the allegations that he was injured due to playing too much.
"Too many minutes???" Irving wrote. "Or did I get knocked off balance?"
Kyrie Irving on his IG story:
"Too many minutes??? Or did I get knocked off balance?" pic.twitter.com/zCQZLtlsOy
— MFFL NATION (@NationMffl) March 8, 2025
Irving's post gained a lot of traction online, with many NBA fans leaving their thoughts on the matter on social media.
"I respect Kai but not mentioning the Luka curse as a contributing factor is crazy," one fan joked.
"sorry kai i respect the loyalty but the logic doesn't check out. leading the nba in minutes creates more minutes to get knocked off balance," added another.
"It can be both things. Wear and tear on your body from too many minutes can cause an injury from a freak accident that would not have normally injured them as bad," wrote a third.
"Got to respect Kyrie on this. He is sticking up for (Jason Kidd) here," commented a fourth.
"Too many minutes, so much on his shoulders. Story would've been different if Luka was still around. Sad!!" posted a fifth.
"I hate the mavs organization but respect kyrie for this classy move," added a sixth.
Irving played in 50 games this season, averaging 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists. With Davis also dealing with an injury he suffered in his Mavericks debut, as well as centers Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II still out, Dallas certainly has an uphill climb if it wants to make the playoffs.
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This story was originally published March 8, 2025 at 2:01 PM.