Mavericks' Kyrie Irving Gives Best Possible Update About His Injury

Kyrie Irving is back and fully healthy for the Dallas Mavericks, confirming it at media day on Friday.

Irving tore his ACL in March of 2025 against the Sacramento Kings, and while there was optimism that he could've played last year, the team was bad, so they let him sit out the remainder of the season so that he could focus on getting healthy.

It seems like Irving as healthy, as he gave an update on his recovery.

"No restrictions. Obviously, there'll be some conversations with the medical staff about back-to-backs and the quality of where I am. Just being honest, day-to-day, and just having that fluid communication," Irving said. "...That player-coach role was fun, I enjoyed it, but I think I'm ready to go out there and kick some butt"

It wouldn't be surprising for Irving to miss a lot of back-to-backs, as there's no real reason to stress him in games like that unless it starts getting late in the season and the Mavericks are fighting for a postseason spot.

Especially early in the season, there's no need to overwork him. While he and Jason Kidd can say that an increased workload didn't lead to his injury 18 months ago, it probably didn't help, either.

Irving was playing more minutes than anyone in the NBA during that time, and while the actual injury happened simply because he stepped on someone's foot, the wear and tear of that many minutes for someone at his age impacted it somehow.

How Kyrie Irving Believes the Injury Helped Him

"My injury was probably the best thing to happen to me."

Kyrie Irving spoke at media day 🙌 pic.twitter.com/t3GSS42maD
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) September 25, 2026

While Irving probably didn't enjoy being away from the game for so long, he admits that he learned a lot while he was.

"Being away from the game of basketball... My injury was probably the best thing to happen to me. I was obsessively looking at the craft, the basketball, playing a majority of the minutes... It was a lot of weight on my shoulders," Irving started. "It's no blame to go around...

"It gave me a lot of time to reflect on where do I want to be as a player, but most importantly, where do I want to be as a man, how can people look to me to be a better leader, better communicator, be more emotional, vulnerable, and also taking the approach of acting like my age, finally.

"I'm 34 years old, I'm going on year 16, and been through a lot of ups and downs as a person, but I think me, as a competitor out there, you never have to worry about me falling short of leaving my best foot forward, or putting my teammates first, or my coaching staff first, or the mission that we have as a franchise."

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