Jason Kidd Squashes Idea That Kyrie Irving's Increased Minutes Led to Season-Ending Injury

Irving suffered a torn ACL in his left knee Monday, ending his season prematurely.

Dallas Mavericks guard Irving and head coach Kidd during the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves in game four of the western conference finals for the 2024 NBA playoffs at American Airlines Center. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Luck certainly hasn't found the Dallas Mavericks lately. Kyrie Irving, their star point guard, suffered a devastating, season-ending torn ACL in his left knee Monday. ESPN's Shams Charania first reported the severity of Irving's injury Tuesday.

Charania quickly pointed out the heavy minutes that Irving played over the past month, a stretch that began just before the Mavs shocked the NBA world by trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. Before the injury, Irving averaged 39.3 minutes over his past 10 games and played the most minutes across the league from Feb. 4 to March 2.

As discourse spread whether Irving's heavy minutes and increased pressure as the Mavs' star led to the injury, Dallas coach Jason Kidd addressed the narrative. And he was having none of it.

"We're talking about one play," Kidd said to reporters pregame Wednesday as the Mavs prepared to play the Milwaukee Bucks, via ESPN. "Not many before that. It's a freak accident, that's how it should be reported. We're reporting on conspiracy theories. We want our stars to play. This isn't supposed to be a rest league."

Injury luck hasn't been kind to the Mavs over the season. In addition to Irving, backup guard Jaden Hardy was injured Monday and will miss time. Most notably, Dallas has been without Anthony Davis since Feb. 8, when he debuted with the team after he arrived from L.A. as the headliner of a package in exchange for Doncic. Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington are currently on the shelf too.

But Irving's injury was a brutal blow.

"Kai is our leader," Kidd continued, via ESPN. "Kai also was playing at a high level; maybe some of the best basketball that he's played in his career. We can't talk from both sides and say our stars don't play enough minutes and guys don't play enough. They rest. But now we're saying they play too much."

No matter the cause, you have to feel for Irving, who courageously took and sank two free-throws after the play which ended his season. He played in 50 of Dallas' 62 games this season, averaging 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. Now, the season that took a dark turn can't end soon enough for the Mavs.

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