Initially ruled to be a week or two out of action, Kyrie Irving is now deemed to be out for the rest of the 2024-25 NBA season after suffering a torn ACL – which now dooms the Dallas Mavericks’s hopes of making it to the playoffs following a very eventful set of weeks since the trade deadline.

Irving, who was named an All-Star for the 2025 All-Star Game in San Francisco, now wraps up his season as he is now slated to recover from a torn ACL – which was one of the biggest injuries that can derail a point guard’s career. It seems that Dallas could not just catch a break as the team’s injury woes really took out their best players so far.

Before he went out with an injury, Kyrie Irving averaged a whopping 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game while shooting 47.3% from the field. He carried the load for the Mavericks for most of the season and had to come up with impressive performances as former Dallas star Luka Doncic missed a hefty number of games due to injury. Now the Mavs will turn to the rest of its roster for answers.

Irving’s Season-Ending Injury

Just nine minutes into the game, Irving was fouled by DeMar DeRozan on his way to the basket. The Dallas star’s right foot unfortunately landed on the foot of Kings center Jonas Valanciunas, which caused Irving to land awkwardly on his left leg and suddenly have his knee hyperextended before falling to the floor.

At the age of 32, Irving demonstrated massive toughness and a glimpse of the “Mamba Mentality”, later getting back up but not being able to put on weight on his left knee. Irving would later go on to score both free throws with tears rolling down his cheeks before he finally left the game assisted by the medical staff of the Dallas Mavericks.

Dallas would go on to lose the game against Sacramento, 122-98. The bench carried most of the load as the rest of the squad fell off their groove and did not have an answer to a Sabonis-less Kings.

“The Dallas Mavericks announced yesterday that Kyrie Irving sustained a left knee sprain against the Kings on March 3,” The Mavericks later released in its social media platforms. “Upon further medical evaluation, an MRI revealed a torn left knee ACL for Irving. Irving will be listed as out with medical updates to follow as necessary.”

A String of Tough Woes

The injury to Irving continues the string of tough breaks for the Dallas Mavericks this season ever since trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers – whose team has now jumped out to the second seed in the Western Conference so far. The Mavericks, on the other hand, are slowly fading away after 10-time star Anthony Davis was injured in his debut and was out indefinitely.

Irving’s injury is the biggest blow to their playoff hopes – considering that the Dallas Mavericks were just in the NBA Finals about a year ago. Still, the Dallas Mavericks are in the 10th seed, which means that they are still good for a Play-In spot had the playoffs begun today.

Currently with odds of +6000, the odds are definitely taking a massive hit now more than ever, and it is certainly expected to plummet in the coming weeks as they are not improving their chances any time soon, especially with Irving now out for good.