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Kyrie Irving has taken on more of the load since Luka Doncic was injured on Christmas Day and later traded, leading to speculation that increased minutes could be the reason for his injury. Irving suffered a season-ending ACL tear in Monday's game. However, Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd disagreed with it. He made it clear at the press conference:
"The strain had nothing to do with the injury. We're talking about one move, it was an accident. That's how it should be reported, but we're reporting conspiracy theories now."
Kidd added that he wants his key players to play as many minutes as possible. "We want our players to play as much as they can," he said.
"This is not a vacation league. Kai is our leader, and he played a lot of minutes, but he played at a high level, maybe the best basketball of his career."
Kyrie Irving
Irving injured his knee in the first quarter of the game against Sacramento, when he tried to break through the defense of DeMar DeRozan and Jonas Valanciunas. He landed awkwardly on his leg and immediately fell to the ground. Although he was hurt, he managed to make two free throws before being led to the locker room.
Kidd emphasized that Irving, who is in a great physical condition, actually liked to play more minutes, and that he was not forced to do so. "He's in good shape and that's what he wanted," Kidd said. "He likes to play, and it's okay to play 40 minutes in a month."
Although Irving is injured, he has been in great form this season, averaging 24.7 points and 4.6 assists per game.
“Kyrie’s a massive loss,” Rivers said. “I feel awful about that. He’s done a lot for Dallas, the team. He has really changed the perception of him.."
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