It has been well over a year now since we last saw Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving in action. Irving tore his ACL in his left knee on March 3, 2025, against the Sacramento Kings, and missed not just the rest of the 2024-25 season, but also the entire 2025-26 campaign.
This has been a very long injury layoff, and while Irving is still not fully healthy, he’s getting very close. The nine-time All-Star dropped a positive update regarding his status on his latest Twitch stream.
“I am definitely close to being over at 100% terms of my ACL recovery,” Irving said, via Mike Curtis. “It’s been a while now. It’s been years, some change. I’m so grateful that I’ve had the time to heal and just experiment with my body more on the court and off the court in the weight room. Just pushing myself to the limit, to my own limits.”
Irving had hinted at a delayed comeback back in July 2025. There were still reports about the 34-year-old returning during the second half of this season, but it wasn’t to be. On Feb. 18, 2026, during the All-Star break, the Mavericks officially announced Irving would not play in 2025-26. At that point, it made little sense to try to make him play, too.
The Mavericks had entered the break with a 19-35 record. They had already traded Anthony Davis to the Washington Wizards and were going nowhere. Developing rookie sensation Cooper Flagg and getting a better draft pick in the 2026 NBA Draft were the top priorities for the rest of the season.
With Flagg, the 2026 Rookie of the Year, being the Mavericks’ new centerpiece, there have been questions about Irving’s future. Their timelines obviously don’t match.
You’d imagine Irving himself would prefer to be on a contender, not a team that finished 26-56 this season. It looks like he will start next season with the Mavericks, though. New team president Masai Ujiri made it clear they want to see Irving and Flagg play together.
“Kevin Durant once told me that there’s only one Kyrie [Irving] walking around in the world,” Ujiri said. “I think we have to figure out a way to make Kyrie fit with our program. I’ve had those conversations with Kyrie, up till yesterday, and I think Kyrie will fit. There’s a huge curiosity in our minds to see how Kyrie fits playing with Cooper Flagg. He’s just an incredible talent, and I think we owe this organization that.”
To Irving’s credit, he is not causing a fuss either. New Mavericks GM Mike Schmitz revealed in a press conference on Friday that the veteran is a regular at their facility.
“Seeing him on a almost daily basis around here at the facility, completely locked into everything we’re doing, it’s been really impressive to see,” Schmitz said, via DLLS Sports. “And being around that every day, combined with everything he’s done to get to this point, gives us a ton of optimism alongside his fit with Cooper.”
Having Irving around would certainly help Flagg. The one-time NBA champion averaged 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game for the Mavericks in 2024-25. We can’t say for sure how good Irving is going to be when he returns, but so many players have come back strong from ACL tears. He should be just fine despite his age.
Despite Ujiri and Schmitz’s comments, top contenders around the NBA will continue to monitor Irving’s future with the Mavericks. New owner Patrick Dumont has already gotten rid of many of the big names brought in during the Mark Cuban era, including superstar Luka Doncic, GM Nico Harrison, and, most recently, head coach Jason Kidd. Irving is the last one remaining.
