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Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving has never been one to hold back on his opinions or assessments. The Duke product certainly upheld this standard when speaking about his injury status on a recent YouTube livestream, warning about an early return next season after he recently agreed to a new contract extension.
“Don’t hold your breath on that. You know what I’m saying?” Irving said on Kyrie LIVE when asked about the possibility of returning before the 2026 NBA Playoffs. “That doesn’t mean I won’t be back, it’s just—I don’t want to make any predictions on when I’m going to be back. I just want to be back 150,000% better. So I’m taking my time right now to really get healthy. I’m taking my time to get my body right—other portions of my body right—and really just enjoy this recovery process. Man, it’s not pretty. Yes, it is a beautiful struggle, but I go through kind of the mental roller coaster ride of every day. I just want to be back out there.”
The 33-year-old suffered a torn ACL in his left knee back in March and did not return for the remainder of the Mavericks’ season. He underwent successful surgery shortly thereafter and has been recovering since then.
ACL injuries are not easy to properly assess. Some reports have indicated that Irving hopes to return well before the playoffs. Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd has maintained high hopes when speaking about Irving’s recovery.
“We know [Kyrie] won't be back until January, February, March,” Kidd said in May. “… I didn't want to put a time limit on it, because I don't want to be held to, ‘Well you said January,' so we got to give me some leeway there. But knowing [Kyrie], he's going to try to come back soon… As you know he documents everything, so just talking to him, his spirit, he's in the right frame of mind. I wouldn't be surprised if he's back early.”
It is possible that the process has been more rigorous than expected. Even still, Dallas hopes to see Irving on the court with Cooper Flagg and Anthony Davis at some point this season, even if the nine-time All-Star chooses to only remain cautiously optimistic.
