Kyrie Irving has suffered a season ending injury during a game against Sacramento Kings. The Australian guard is one of the key pieces of the Dallas Mavericks, a team that is suffering a seemingly never ending streak of bad luck and bad results ever since they got ride of Serbian star Luka Dončić, who is thriving at Los Angeles Lakers. In return, they got Anthony Davis, who only played once before getting injured.
"You get other bodies back and it just seems that every time we're close to getting someone back, someone goes down", said Mavericks coach Jason Kidd. Kyrie Irving is the latest player to got injured, and this is a serious one, having torn the ACL in his left knee, which takes months to recover. It happened after loosing balance and landing with the left knee bending after a foul.
But even after the injury, limping and knowing well that he wouldn't be able to continue playing, he still chose to throw the free shots after the foul. He was in the locker room but after Kidd spoke to Irving, the 32-year-old player returned, helped by his teammates, and scored the two free shots. The moment, with the whole stadium cheering in Dallas, is really powerful.
"Kyrie is the heart and soul of this team, and he has embraced the city of Dallas as his home and our fans as an extension of his own family", said Mavericks General Manager Nico Harrison, now maligned after trading Dončić in what most experts consider a huge mistake for the present and future of the franchise.
Despite Irving's determination, the match was a defeat for Dallas Mavericks, 122-98, that leaves them with a 32-30 this season, in the tenth place at the West Conference, the final play-in spot.
