Getty Kyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks.
It’s been a whirlwind for the Dallas Mavericks this season. An up-and-down start to the season saw them add Kyrie Irving at the trade deadline in a serious shake-up. And now, they are going to have to deal with multiple absences from their star players.
Luka Doncic is dealing with a thigh injury, and Irving missed the team’s latest practice and is questionable for their next game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News reported that he is missing time due to personal reasons, and head coach Jason Kidd said, “Hopefully, he can join us in Memphis.” However, fans quickly turned on Irving in the replies.
“Here we go,” one said fan in the replies.
Irving has a history of flakiness. He missed a ton of games during his tenure with the Brooklyn Nets for a variety of reasons. Whether it be injuries, refusing to get the vaccine, or making irresponsible comments.
“I have a collegue who is absent from work for personal reasons 3 out of 4 weeks…someone always have to pick up his job…everyone hates him. Lets see how this will turn out with the Mavs,” another fan tweeted.
When the Mavericks traded for Irving, there were a ton of questions surrounding whether or not the fit would work in Dallas.
However, during a Twitch stream, Irving revealed that he recently lost a family member, and the funeral would be at some point in the coming week. Some fans took to the replies to defend Irving and provide the added context, but many immediately jumped to conclusions.
Mavs Receive Luka Doncic Injury Update
As far as Doncic, he tweaked an injury during the Mavericks’ recent loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. Luckily for Doncic and the Mavericks, however, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN revealed that the MRIs on Doncic’s leg were negative.
“Luka Doncic’s MRI on his thigh is clean and he’s expected to return as soon as discomfort allows him, source tells ESPN,” Wojnarowski tweeted.
At the same time however, Doncic gave a less-than-stellar update of his own during his post-game press conference.
“It’s been going on for one week, maybe more, I just can’t really push off of that leg,” Doncic said after the Pelicans game via Mavs Fan For Life’s Landon Thomas. “I’m just getting with no running, I can feel it, but mostly probably on the jump shots. So pushing off is very hard for me.”
He also noted that the more he ran on his leg, however, the worse it got.
“I always try to play,” Doncic explained. “I think the first quarter wasn’t really that bad, but it got worse, especially in the third quarter. I just tried something to help it stick together, but it didn’t really help. Like I said, I was going more and more and then I could barely run. Normally I got hit in the thigh, but this one I didn’t get hit, so it’s kind of weird for me. I don’t really know what it is, I don’t know, it’s weird.”
Kyrie Irving Discusses Mavs Title Hopes
In other news, Irving recently stated that he still believes in the Mavericks championship hopes this season.
“It’s coming together fast,” Irving said of Dallas’ team chemistry via Bally Sports Southwest. “And to be honest with you, I think our championship aspirations are really close. But honestly, we’ve got to take it one day at a time.”