The Dallas Mavericks were dealt a huge blow to their postseason chances on Monday night after Kyrie Irving went down with a knee injury we now know is a torn ACL that will end his season. And in the eyes of ESPN’s David Dennis Jr., Irving’s injury is perhaps the latest example of how the Mavericks organization is failing both their fanbase and their own players.
Irving’s injury, of course comes at a contentious time for the Mavericks organization. Just last month, the organization traded the cornerstone of their franchise, Luka Dončić, alienating much of their fanbase in the process.
While any kind of significant knee injury obviously isn’t something that is outright predictable for anyone, the process of preventing an injury can at least be something that can be aided in lightening the workload on a player.
That hasn’t been the case whatsoever for Irving since the Mavericks made the highly scrutinized decision to trade Dončić to the Lakers, as he has averaged 39.3 minutes per game in the ten full games that he has played in the post-Dončić era.
During an appearance on NBA Today on Tuesday, Dennis outlined how the Mavericks mismanagement of Irving since the Dončić trade is a signal of “institutional failure” in protecting their aging star.
“I cannot help but think that the indelible, lasting, tragic image of the Dallas Mavericks post the Luka Dončić trade is Anthony Davis in street clothes, carrying a hobbling Kyrie Irving off to end his season with a torn ACL,” said Dennis. “This is after Dallas said that the major reason that they were trading Luka Dončić was because of health concerns.
“Now you have the two big stars out, probably for the rest of the season. Some of this was avoidable. Dallas has to eat the fact that they have been playing Kyrie Irving, who has been injury-prone, more minutes than anybody else in the league at age 32. They have to hold that loss and think about what they have done.”
For NBA TODAY: Kyrie was failed by the Mavs who traded away his chance to return to the Finals and played him 40 minutes a game after. Institutional failure. https://t.co/dyRuNFDlR8 pic.twitter.com/YweOiFk99M
— David Dennis Jr. (@DavidDTSS) March 4, 2025
Whether you believe the Mavericks are at least partly at fault for Irving’s injury or not, it is undoubtedly tough to see someone like Irving go down in the midst of such a great season. And it sure won’t spell complaints from Mavericks fans who would sure like another backcourt superstar to still be in town to pick up the slack in Irving’s absence.
