Mavericks star guard Kyrie Irving tears his ACL

Kyrie Irving (Erik Drost, Wikimedia Commons)

The news for the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday simply got worse. It has been reported that guard Kyrie Irving, a native of Melbourne, Australia, will be out for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. The injury happened on Monday night as Irving was driving to the basket. The Mavericks lost to the Sacramento Kings handily on their home court by a score of 122-98.

So far this season, Irving was an All-Star for the ninth time. He averaged 24.7 points per game, 4.8 rebounds per game, 4.6 assists per game, and 1.3 steals per game. Irving also had a field goal percentage of .473, three point percentage of .401 and a free throw percentage of .916.

This is a huge loss for the Mavericks who were counting on Irving’s offense after their curious trade with the Los Angeles Lakers on February 2, which saw Luca Doncic, the face of the Mavericks franchise, go to southern California. Meanwhile, Anthony Davis, who went to Dallas from Los Angeles, has only played one game with the Mavericks since the deal because of an adductor strain injury. Now there is talk according to Dylan Svoboda of the New York Post that Davis could be out for the rest of the 2024-25 NBA regular season too.

Irving made basketball headlines recently when he expressed his interest in competing internationally for Australia at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The Mavericks are currently at 32 wins and 30 losses, and hold down the 10th and final playoff spot in the NBA Play-In Tournament with 20 games left in the regular season.