A nightmarish season for the Dallas Mavericks somehow found a new rock-bottom on Monday night, as Kyrie Irving left the team's blowout loss to the Sacramento Kings with what was later revealed to be a torn ACL in his left knee. Irving is obviously done for the year, and his status for the start of next season is very much up in the air.
It's a huge blow to a Mavs organization that justified its shocking decision to trade Luka Doncic by arguing that it needed to maximize its current championship window, only to watch its two best players, Irving and Anthony Davis, immediately suffer serious injuries. But it's also a very predictable blow: Davis' health issues are well-documented at this point, and one look at Irving's own injury history suggests the Mavs shouldn't have relied on the point guard staying on the court for an extended period of time.
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Kyrie Irving injury history
A smaller point guard who frequently battles among the trees in order to finish at the rim, it's no surprise that Irving has had a hard time staying healthy. It's an issue that's dogged him throughout his NBA career, and even back to his year in college at Duke.
2011 season (Duke)
One of the most sought-after recruits in the country, Irving committed to Duke for the 2010-11 season and immediately looked like a contender for National Player of the Year honors. But in his ninth game of the year, he suffered a toe injury that would keep him out for the rest of the regular season. He eventually returned to the court for the team's NCAA Tournament run, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen before losing to Arizona.
2011-12 season
Irving was taken No. 1 overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2011 NBA Draft and hit the ground running, earning first-team All-Rookie honors while averaging 18.5 points per game. He did suffer a shoulder contusion that cost him 15 games of a lockout-shortened season, however, which would be a sign of things to come.
2012-13 season
Irving fractured his hand after slapping a padded wall in frustration during Summer League. He would recover in time for the start of the regular season, only to fracture his index finger in late November and miss three weeks of action.
2014-15 season
With LeBron James and Kevin Love in tow, Irving helped lead the Cavs to the 2015 NBA Finals. But his shot at a championship was cut tragically short in overtime of Game 1, in which the point guard suffered a fractured left kneecap that required surgery to repair. He wouldn't play again until Dec. 20.
2017-18 season
Unfortunately, that wouldn't be the last of Irving's knee problems. Just over two years later, now a member of the Boston Celtics, Irving was shut down to undergo a minimally invasive procedure due to complications in his surgically repaired left knee. He was initially expected to only miss a few weeks, but another surgery to remove screws from his kneecap would wind up costing him the rest of the season.
2019-20 season
Just 11 games into his tenure with the Brooklyn Nets, Irving was shut down due to discomfort in his right shoulder. He wound up missing 26 games, making a triumphant return on Jan 12., 2020, with 21 points on 10-of-11 shooting. But that return would be short-lived: In late February, the Nets announced that Irving's shoulder problem had worsened, and would require season-ending surgery to repair.
2020-21 season
Irving came back healthy in time for the start of the 2020-21 season and played some of his best basketball, becoming just the ninth player in NBA history to join the 50-40-90 club. He, Kevin Durant and James Harden brought the Nets to the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Milwaukee Bucks, but Irving suffered a right-ankle sprain in Game 4 that wound up swinging the series.
2023-24 season
Irving's time in Brooklyn ended tumultuously, to say the least. But he turned over a new leaf with the Mavs, teaming up with Luka Doncic to help Dallas reach the NBA Finals for the first time since winning it all back in 2011-12. Even then, though Kyrie wasn't totally injury-free, as a foot sprain cost him a month of playing time during the regular season.
2024-25 season
Irving was forced to miss six games earlier this year due to a thumb sprain. But that obviously pales in comparison to his latest injury, one that will send Dallas spiraling even further into a funk that could take years to pull out of. Irving is still as talented as ever, but at age 32, it's fair to wonder whether all of these ailments will start to take their toll at some point, especially as the Mavs rely more and more on his ability to create in the absence of Doncic.