Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving suffered a Torn ACL in his left knee on Monday night and will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
The torn ACL was confirmed by Shams Charania of ESPN, though it remains unclear what the next steps will be for the NBA All-Star guard.
Irving was in the midst of one of the best seasons of his career after playing in 50 of the Mavericks’ 62 games to this point, averaging 24.7 points per game with 4.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists.
The most impressive aspect of Irving’s season to this point was his efficiency. He shot 47.3% from the field while making 40.1% of his three-point attempts and 91.6% of his free throws.
Irving is currently the only player in the league to be averaging at least 20 points while shooting 40% from the three-point line and 90% from the free-throw line.
This season will mark the fifth time in his career that he has finished with at least 20 points per game while shooting 40% from three and 90% from the free-throw line, which is the second-most in NBA history, according to ESPN.
Irving has a $43 million player option for the 2025-26 season, the final season of the 3-year contract worth $120 million he signed with the franchise in 2023.
The timing of this injury means that he is unlikely to play in the 2025-26 season, though he could return for the playoffs if the Mavericks play well in the regular season.
Although the Mavericks have struggled to win games this season, sitting as the 10th seed in the Western Conference with a record of 32-30, there was still hope that this team could make a run in the playoffs as players got healthy.
This injury adds to the plethora of distractions and injuries this Mavericks team has dealt with over the past two months.
In addition to the team trading away franchise superstar Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers, the organization has dealt with significant injuries to Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively, Daniel Gafford, and PJ Washington.
While Dallas expects most of these players to return before the NBA Playoffs begin in April, the possibility of making a deep playoff run has decreased significantly due to Irving’s injury.