<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-klay-thompson-drops-toughest-truth-bomb-kyrie-irving');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mavericks’ Klay Thompson drops ‘toughest’ truth bomb on Kyrie Irving');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Mavericks-guard-Kyrie-Irving-2.jpg"><figcaption>Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Mavericks’ Klay Thompson drops ‘toughest’ truth bomb on Kyrie Irving</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-08-31T09:00:54-07:00">August 31st, 9:00am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-08-31T09:00:54-07:00">August 31st, 9:00am</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>As <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-kyrie-irving-already-getting-shots-up-amid-surgery-recovery">Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving is recovering from an injury</a> where he tore his ACL earlier this year, there is no doubt that he is seen as one of the more electric players in the NBA. One person who agrees is <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-klay-thompson-motivated-years">Mavericks sharpshooter and ultra-motivated Klay Thompson,</a> who spoke about Irving recently.</p><p>Thompson would speak to former player Michael Cooper on the show “Showtime with Cooper” and was asked about how it has been playing with Irving ever since joining Dallas last offseason. After reminiscing about the battles the two had when Thompson was with the Golden State Warriors and Irving with the Cleveland Cavaliers, he would mention how he is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CPh2Nbal6E" rel="noopener">“the toughest guy I’ve ever guarded.”</a></p><p>“And it’s awesome being his teammate now, because we can talk about those things and try to add to our last chapter in the league together — and add to our legacy,” Irving said. “We came into the league together — same draft class, 2011 — and I just have great respect for Kyrie. He’s the toughest guy I’ve ever guarded. Put him up there with LeBron, KD, and Kobe — he’s got no weaknesses in his game.”</p><p>Some of the legendary games between the two were with the aforementioned teams in the NBA Finals, as they met three times when the two were on each franchise.</p><h2><b>Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving updates on his injury recovery</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Kyrie-Irving.jpg"><figcaption>Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>As fans wonder if the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-kyrie-irving-injury-update-hints-return-sooner-expected">Mavericks’ star in Irving will return sooner</a> than expected, there is no denying that progress has been made in his recovery due to <a href="https://x.com/kyriecenterig/status/1961794885079494763" rel="noopener">recent video of him shooting the basketball</a> at an NBPA facility in New York.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Kyrie was seen getting shots up at the NBPA facility in New York 👀</p><p>(🎥 <a href="https://twitter.com/CountOnVic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CountOnVic</a>) <a href="https://t.co/s6v8wnxlJz">pic.twitter.com/s6v8wnxlJz</a></p><p>— Kyrie Center (@kyriecenterig) <a href="https://twitter.com/kyriecenterig/status/1961794885079494763?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>Irving would give some insight into his recovery as he spoke on a live stream earlier this week about being in the gym, though he would not go into detail about the exact steps he is taking. He would emphasize that it has been “incremental growth” for his recovery, though Irving would make sure to mention that he is <a href="https://x.com/All_Things_Mavs/status/1960766420528111837" rel="noopener">“healing up great.”</a></p><p>“I was in the gym doing a little bit more,” Irving said, according to a video from All Things Mavs. “I won’t tell you exactly what I was doing because it’s all about incremental growth, but I can share with y’all, it was some good days in the gym. I’m healing up great. To this date (August 26), this will be five months post-surgery.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Kyrie gives an update five months after his ACL surgery 👀</p><p>“I was in the gym doing a little bit more.” <a href="https://twitter.com/KyrieIrving?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KyrieIrving</a> 🤞 <a href="https://t.co/yRjCaGUXUs">pic.twitter.com/yRjCaGUXUs</a></p><p>— All Things Mavs (@All_Things_Mavs) <a href="https://twitter.com/All_Things_Mavs/status/1960766420528111837?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>At any rate, Irving looks to return hopefully as soon as possible to help improve the Mavericks after finishing with a 39-43 record, which put them 10th in the Western Conference.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mavericks’ Klay Thompson drops ‘toughest’ truth bomb on Kyrie Irving

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-kyrie-irving-already-getting-shots-up-amid-surgery-recovery');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving is already getting shots up amid surgery recovery');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Mavericks-star-Kyrie-Irving-moves-down-the-court.jpg"><figcaption>Jerome Miron-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving is already getting shots up amid surgery recovery</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-08-30T08:38:33-07:00">August 30th, 8:38am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-08-30T08:56:50-07:00">August 30th, 8:56am</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>As <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-kyrie-irving-injury-update-hints-return-sooner-expected">Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving is trying to return from injury</a> sooner rather than later, he does seem to be on a positive trajectory as he was shown recently being active. While the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-rumors-dallas-trade-olivier-maxence-prosper-dante-exum">rumors around the Mavericks will continue</a> throughout the upcoming season, Irving’s recovery will be a main storyline to follow.</p><p>A recent video showed Irving <a href="https://x.com/kyriecenterig/status/1961794885079494763" rel="noopener">shooting the basketball in an NBPA gym</a> in New York (video via Kyrie Center), which is no doubt exciting for fans who were hoping for some good news regarding his recovery. Last season, Irving tore his left ACL in March with questions on when he would return to playing basketball in the 2025-26 season.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Kyrie was seen getting shots up at the NBPA facility in New York 👀</p><p>(🎥 <a href="https://twitter.com/CountOnVic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CountOnVic</a>) <a href="https://t.co/s6v8wnxlJz">pic.twitter.com/s6v8wnxlJz</a></p><p>— Kyrie Center (@kyriecenterig) <a href="https://twitter.com/kyriecenterig/status/1961794885079494763?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>Irving also provided an update regarding his recovery, saying on a live stream that he was in the “gym doing a little bit more,” which is like the video posted of him shooting the basketball. He even said that he is “healing up great,” though at the moment, it has been <a href="https://x.com/All_Things_Mavs/status/1960766420528111837" rel="noopener">“incremental growth.”</a></p><p>“I was in the gym doing a little bit more,” Irving said, via video from All Things Mavs. “I won’t tell you exactly what I was doing because it’s all about incremental growth, but I can share with y’all, it was some good days in the gym. I’m healing up great. To this date (August 26), this will be five months post-surgery.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Kyrie gives an update five months after his ACL surgery 👀</p><p>“I was in the gym doing a little bit more.” <a href="https://twitter.com/KyrieIrving?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KyrieIrving</a> 🤞 <a href="https://t.co/yRjCaGUXUs">pic.twitter.com/yRjCaGUXUs</a></p><p>— All Things Mavs (@All_Things_Mavs) <a href="https://twitter.com/All_Things_Mavs/status/1960766420528111837?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving on a possible timeline for injury return</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Mavericks-guard-Kyrie-Irving.jpg"><figcaption>Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>With the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-stephen-a-smith-extremely-bold-nba-finals-claim">Mavericks looking to reach the NBA Finals</a>, Irving is a piece that could have them making a lot of noise to team up with Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson, No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, and others. However, when Irving will return is a big question, as when answering questions on a live stream, he wouldn’t commit to a return by the NBA playoffs, though he does not <a href="https://www.hoopshype.com/story/sports/nba/rumors/2025/07/06/kyrie-irving-on-whether-hell-return-by-the-playoffs-dont-hold-your-breath-on-that/84532756007/" rel="noopener">“want to make any predictions.”</a></p><p>“That doesn’t mean I won’t be back,” Irving said in July, via HoopsHype. “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.”</p><p>It remains to be seen when Irvin will return, but Dallas looks to stay afloat until then this upcoming season.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving is already getting shots up amid surgery recovery

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-kyrie-irving-injury-update-hints-return-sooner-expected');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving’s injury update hints at return sooner than expected');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Mavericks-guard-Kyrie-Irving.jpg"><figcaption>Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving’s injury update hints at return sooner than expected</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-08-27T15:19:39-07:00">August 27th, 3:19pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-08-27T17:44:33-07:00">August 27th, 5:44pm</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving delivered an encouraging update amid recovery from a torn ACL injury, which ended his season earlier this year. After ESPN’s <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-stephen-a-smith-extremely-bold-nba-finals-claim">Stephen A Smith claimed the Mavericks’ deep playoff run</a> is dependant on Irving and All-Star Anthony Davis’ health throughout 2025-26, many are wondering how good Dallas will be next season. It’ll be the first full Mavs season since trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.</p><p>In many ways, it’s the start of a new era for the Mavericks, and Irving, five months removed from post-surgery, gave fans <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1960793056854335496" rel="noopener">some good news</a> about his progress on Irving’s Twitch.</p><p>“I was in the gym doing a little bit more as well. I was in the gym, doing a little bit more,” Irving said. “I wanna tell you exactly what I was doing because it’s all about incremental growth, but I can share with ya’ll some good days it was some good days in the gym. I’m healing up great. This date today, on the 26th; this will be five months post-surgery.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"I was in the gym doing a little bit more… I'm healing up great. This date today, the 26th… this will be 5 months post-surgery."</p><p>Kyrie Irving shares where he's at in recovery from a torn ACL 🗣️</p><p>(via kyrieirving/Twitch)<a href="https://t.co/bdbzFtyia2">pic.twitter.com/bdbzFtyia2</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1960793056854335496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Irving’s return and the NBA debut of the Mavericks’ first overall pick in this year’s draft, Cooper Flagg, are two of the high anticipated storylines heading into next season for Dallas. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-dangelo-russell-dallas-kyrie-irvings-injury-absence">Mavs also acquired D’Angelo Russell to fill in</a> as the starting point guard in place of Irving. Dallas also signed Kyrie and Daniel Gafford to respective contract extensions.</p><p>Irving agreed to a three-year, $119 million extension. Gafford signed a three-year extension worth $54 million during the offseason.</p><h2><b>Stephen A Smith’s bold Mavericks prediction for the 2025-26 season</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Mavericks-Kyrie-Irving-Mavericks-Anthony-Davis.jpg"><figcaption>Jerome Miron-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>ESPN’s Stephen A Smith is giving Kyrie Irving after injury and the Mavericks the benefit of the doubt heading into the upcoming season. Despite having to face the defending champion Thunder, the 2023 champion Nuggets, and the revamped Rockets, who acquired All-Star Kevin Durant over the summer, all in the same Western Conference, Smith is predicting the Mavs can evolve into championship contenders.</p><p>Smith revealed if Irving and All-Star Anthony Davis are healthy, the Mavericks have <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1958922482263760949" rel="noopener">a chance to compete for a title</a>, per ESPN’s First Take.</p><p>“If Anthony Davis, if Kyrie Irving is healthy and [AD] brings his A game, the Dallas Mavericks will win the NBA championship,” Smith said. “That’s a big if. It’s fluid; it can change. But it’s legit, and everybody knows it. Because the one thing we’re not going to say about AD is that the brother can’t play.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"If Anthony Davis, if Kyrie Irving is healthy and [AD] brings his A game, the Dallas Mavericks will win the NBA championship. That's a big if."</p><p>– Stephen A. Smith 👀</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/FirstTake?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FirstTake</a>)<a href="https://t.co/7NRQ3RqIfU">pic.twitter.com/7NRQ3RqIfU</a> <a href="https://t.co/YkahXjGueR">https://t.co/YkahXjGueR</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1958922482263760949?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 22, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>It’ll be intriguing to see where the Mavs stand among the Western Conference’s elite teams.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving’s injury update hints at return sooner than expected

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-mark-cuban-shams-charania-kyrie-irving-trade');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mark Cuban explains Shams Charania’s surprising role in Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving trade');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Kyrie-Irving-and-Mark-Cuban-celebrate-during-Mavericks-game-in-2024.jpg"><figcaption>Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Mark Cuban explains Shams Charania’s surprising role in Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving trade</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-08-20T10:29:23-07:00">August 20th, 10:29am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-08-20T10:29:23-07:00">August 20th, 10:29am</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joey.mistretta/" rel="facebook">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. He is originally from Lake Arrowhead, California. Mistretta graduated from Biola University with a degree in broadcast journalism.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Dallas Mavericks acquired Kyrie Irving from the Brooklyn Nets during the 2022-23 NBA season. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/mavericks-news-kyrie-irving-savage-luka-doncic-practice-story">Irving joined Luka Doncic</a> in Dallas, giving the Mavs one of the best duos in the league. While speaking on a recent podcast, Mark Cuban revealed Shams Charania’s <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1958207429490966765" rel="noopener">surprising role</a> in the Irving trade as well as Irving’s contract extension, via Semafor.</p><p>“Shams was my guy… He was a big help with us getting Kyrie, when we traded for Kyrie,” Cuban said. “And for us extending him when we extended, because he had a great relationship with Kyrie’s agent.”</p><p>Charania, an NBA insider for ESPN, apparently played a role in the situation. Irving has since become the face of the Mavericks, as <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-mavericks-luka-doncic-anthony-davis-trade">Doncic was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers</a> before the 2024-25 NBA trade deadline.</p><p>Irving is currently recovering from ACL surgery. He could return in early 2026 if no setbacks occur. The 33-year-old is still one of the best players in the NBA.</p><p>In 2024-25 — before suffering the ACL injury — Irving averaged 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.3 steals per outing while shooting 47.3 percent from the field and 40.1 percent from deep. His first full season with the Mavs was in 2023-24 — when Dallas reached the NBA Finals. It was a special campaign without question.</p><p>The Kyrie Irving trade has been important to say the least. Mavericks fans are happy to have Irving on the roster. With Anthony Davis, Cooper Flagg and Klay Thompson in Dallas, perhaps the Mavs will be able to make a championship run within the next year or two. They will be a team worth closely monitoring this season, especially once Irving returns from his ACL surgery recovery.</p><p>Mark Cuban, who is now a minority owner of the Mavericks, will certainly have his attention on the team as Dallas moves forward after the shocking Luka Doncic trade.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mark Cuban explains Shams Charania’s surprising role in Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving trade

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-kyrie-irving-official-nba-2k26-rating');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving receives official NBA 2K26 rating');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Mavericks-news-Kyrie-Irving-receives-official-NBA-2K26-rating.jpg"></figure><h1>Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving receives official NBA 2K26 rating</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-08-19T12:47:50-07:00">August 19th, 12:47pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-08-19T15:57:50-07:00">August 19th, 3:57pm</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joey.mistretta/" rel="facebook">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. He is originally from Lake Arrowhead, California. Mistretta graduated from Biola University with a degree in broadcast journalism.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>NBA 2K is beginning to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/wnba/lynx-news-napheesa-collier-responds-to-being-rated-98-overall-nba-2k26">release its player ratings for NBA 2K26</a>. On Tuesday, Kyrie Irving’s official rating <a href="https://x.com/NBA2K/status/1957850049871831050" rel="noopener">was revealed</a>, as the game gave the Dallas Mavericks star a 90 overall. He holds the 24th best rating in the game.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/nba-2k26-myteam">NBA 2K — the most popular basketball video game today</a> — does its best to present accurate player ratings. Some may argue that Irving’s rating is too low, while others may suggest he’s overrated in the game since he will miss the beginning of the 2025-26 season while recovering from ACL surgery. However, Kyrie played at an extremely high level last season before suffering the injury.</p><p>He is more than deserving of a 90 overall rating. There is an argument to be made that he should be rated even higher.</p><p>Irving’s <a href="https://x.com/NBA2K/status/1955343562498818356" rel="noopener">99 overall handle</a> is the best in the game, ahead of Stephen Curry’s 97 overall handle. It’s difficult to argue with that rating, since most people around the NBA would agree that Kyrie has arguably the best handle of all-time.</p><p>At 33 years old, Kyrie Irving still impacts the game in multiple ways. In 2024-25, he averaged 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.3 steals per outing across 50 games played before suffering the ACL injury. He also shot 47.3 percent on his field goal attempts and 40.1 percent on his three-point attempts.</p><p>Irving immediately emerged as the Mavericks unquestioned leader following the Luka Doncic trade. Anthony Davis suffered an injury of his own in his first game played with Dallas, but Irving kept the Mavs in play-in contention until his season came to an end.</p><p>Once AD returned, the Mavericks were still able to sneak into the play-in tournament. They defeated the Kings in Sacramento to begin their play-in journey before losing to the Grizzlies in Memphis — a defeat that officially ended a long season for the Mavs.</p><p>Dallas could make a legitimate postseason run once Kyrie Irving returns from his ACL surgery recovery later in the 2025-26 campaign. As for his NBA 2K26 90 overall rating, do you think the game got it right?</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving receives official NBA 2K26 rating

Stephen Curry

Kevin Durant

Russell Westbrook

James Harden

Kyrie Irving

Chris Paul

Carmelo Anthony

Damian Lillard

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Lonzo Ball

2x All-NBA

6x All Star

2015-16 NBA Champ

2011-12 All-Rookie

2016 NBA Champ

7x All Star

2013-14 AS MVP

8x All Star

2011-12 ROY

9x All Star

3x All-NBA

Cleveland Cavaliers

Boston Celtics

Brooklyn Nets

Dallas Mavericks

1 season

4 seasons

3 seasons

Career

https://twitter.com/KyrieIrving/status/1649426634607321088/

“As the Prodigal Son I come to you, merciful God. I have wasted my whole life in a foreign land; I have scattered the wealth which You gave me, O Father. "Receive me in repentance, O God, and have mercy upon me” 

Hélà 
🤞🏾♾

https://twitter.com/KyrieIrving/status/1641869166494769173/

I am Honored to be A Soldier in Gods Army. Gotta stay poised and serve humanity selflessly. 

Hélà 
🤞🏾♾

https://twitter.com/KyrieIrving/status/1641820543165890563/

https://twitter.com/KyrieIrving/status/1638571953186304000/

https://twitter.com/KyrieIrving/status/1638065776799129600/

Chop wood, Carry water. 
Gotta stay poised 

Hélà 
🤞🏾♾

https://twitter.com/KyrieIrving/status/1635052174664425472/

https://twitter.com/KyrieIrving/status/1634588391340687363/

Long Live King Najee Seabrooks 

Rest Easy with the Ancestors 

🤞🏾♾❤️
Hélà 

https://twitter.com/KyrieIrving/status/1634198561087795208/

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
24.7	4.8	4.6	0.5	1.3

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
24.7	4.8	4.6	0.5	1.3

Kyrie
Irving

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