The Dallas Mavericks are shaping up to be a serious contender next year. After landing Cooper Flagg in the NBA Draft to bolster their already impressive frontcourt—which includes Anthony Davis—and signing D’Angelo Russell to help hold things down, the team is just waiting on one major piece: Kyrie Irving.
The star point guard tore his ACL back in March and has been sidelined since. While both the team and Irving have stayed quiet about a specific recovery timeline, fans finally got a small glimpse into where his head’s at regarding a potential return.
During a holiday weekend livestream, Irving responded candidly when asked if he could be back for the playoffs—assuming the Mavs make it.
“Don’t hold your breath on that, you know what I’m saying?” Irving said. “It doesn’t mean I won’t be back. It’s just, I don’t want to make any predictions on when I’m going to be back. I just want to be back 150,000% better. I’m taking my time right now to really get healthy, I’m taking my time to really get my body right, other parts of my body right and really just enjoy this recovery process, man. It’s not pretty. Yes, it is a beautiful struggle, but I go through the mental rollercoaster ride every day. Just want to be back out there.”
This isn’t Kyrie’s first time dealing with a major injury. Back in his Cleveland Cavaliers days, he fractured his kneecap during the NBA Finals and didn’t return to action until December the following season.
All signs point to him taking a similarly cautious approach this time around.
