<!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', '/mavericks-news-kyrie-irving-jason-kidd-practice-dallas-potential');   ga('set', 'title', 'Kyrie Irving, Jason Kidd’s moment at practice indicative of Mavericks’ potential');   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/2024/10/11-kyrie-kidd.jpeg"></figure><h1>Kyrie Irving, Jason Kidd’s moment at practice indicative of Mavericks’ potential</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-12T17:53:22-07:00">October 12th, 5:53pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-12T17:53:22-07:00">October 12th, 5:53pm</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">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>DALLAS — Jason Kidd and Kyrie Irving sat next to one another after practice on Saturday. The two were smiling while having a conversation, seemingly sharing light-hearted stories and thoughts. Although it was only one conversation, the fact is that one Hall of Famer speaking to a future Hall of Famer who have the same goal in mind is something that is destined to catch the attention of fans. Kidd revealed that he was speaking to Irving about the “history of the game” during their conversation, and the Dallas Mavericks head coach <a href="https://x.com/JoeyMistretta_/status/1845153287961538905" rel="noopener">also addressed</a> Kyrie’s leadership while talking to reporters.</p><p>“When you talk about Kai’s leadership… soft-spoken but powerful,” Kidd said of Irving’s leadership. “When you look at what he’s done up to this point, he’s a champion… Everyone respects his game. When you talk about him being able to help the younger generation, they all respect the dribbling, the scoring, his competitiveness. So they all want to pick his brain of how they can all get better. He takes the time out to spend with the young group to try to make the game easier for them. That’s just who he is. He spends a lot of time with the young group.</p><p>“We were sitting there just talking about the history of the game. But that’s just who he is. He’s worldly, not just basketball but off the floor, too.”</p><p>Irving is a tremendous leader. Kidd was also a good leader during his career, something that has continued into his time as a coach. Yet, is one seemingly light-hearted conversation about basketball history between Kyrie Irving and Jason Kidd indicative of the Mavericks’ potential?</p><h2><b>Kyrie Irving and Jason Kidd understand what it takes to lead a winning team</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Mavericks-head-coach-Jason-Kidd-high-fives-guard-Kyrie-Irving-11-during-the-third-quarter-against-the-Minnesota-Timberwolves.jpg"><figcaption>© Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>There is <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-kyrie-irving-purpose-admission-jason-kidd-preseason">respect between Irving and Kidd</a>. Kidd and Irving are also respected by the rest of the team. There have been many instances throughout the NBA where star players simply do not respect a head coach. Meanwhile, there have also been times where the head coach may not respect the stars.</p><p>Fortunately, the Mavs have plenty of respect to go around. Luka Doncic, and now Klay Thompson, are in that conversation as well. But it begins with Irving, who has become a leader for the Mavs from a vocal standpoint. As Kidd mentioned, Irving offers “soft-spoken but powerful” leadership, and he has accepted the role.</p><p>Other players on the practice floor surely took notice of Kidd and Irving speaking to one another. Their calmness and relaxed demeanors likely impacted the entire team, as other Mavs look up to both the head coach and veteran guard.</p><p>It is a small thing that will not be discussed during a potential Mavericks’ playoff run. The primary discussions will center around the team’s performance in games and individual play. But even simple conversations can play pivotal roles in boosting team morale and chemistry.</p><p>If the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-klay-thompson-secret-championships">Mavericks do make a championship run</a> during the 2024-25 campaign, perhaps we can look back at that light-hearted moment between Jason Kidd and Kyrie Irving during a practice in the preseason and point to it as an important part of the Mavs’ season.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Kyrie Irving, Jason Kidd’s moment at practice indicative of Mavericks’ potential

<!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', '/mavericks-news-kyrie-irving-purpose-admission-jason-kidd-preseason');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving gets attention-catching ‘purpose’ admission from Jason Kidd');   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/2024/10/0-Kyrie-Irving-gets-attention-catching-purpose-admission-from-Jason-Kidd0.jpg"></figure><h1>Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving gets attention-catching ‘purpose’ admission from Jason Kidd</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-11T07:30:03-07:00">October 11th, 7:30am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-11T07:40:22-07:00">October 11th, 7:40am</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">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks were defeated 107-102 by the Utah Jazz on Thursday night in their second preseason game. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-klay-thompson-kyrie-irving-dallas-2024-25-preseason">Kyrie Irving made his preseason debut</a> and played well, though. Irving finished the game with 12 points, four rebounds and one assist. He went 6-11 from the field as well, and Mavs head coach Jason Kidd <a href="https://x.com/JoeyMistretta_/status/1844737103151649134" rel="noopener">was pleased</a> with Irving’s play.</p><p>“It was with purpose, he does things with purpose,” Kidd said of Irving. “He let everybody know he was ready to go… In a short amount of time he was Kai. You can tell that everything is with a purpose with one goal in mind and that’s to win.”</p><p>Kyrie Irving, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/klay-thompson-buries-first-nba-basket-after-warriors-split">along with Klay Thompson</a>, only played in the first half of the game. He will continue to receive more minutes as the preseason continues. Irving and Thompson are receiving valuable preseason action as they look to build chemistry with one another.</p><p>The Mavs would love to have Luka Doncic play at some point in the preseason as well, but he is dealing with a calf injury. Kidd said that Doncic will not play on Monday against the Los Angeles Clippers. However, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-jason-kidd-luka-doncic-playing-preseason-injury">Mavs head coach did not rule out Doncic playing next Thursday</a> against the Milwaukee Bucks in the team’s preseason finale.</p><p>Either way, the goal is for Doncic to join his teammates for the regular season opener on October 24 against the San Antonio Spurs. Irving, meanwhile, appears to already be in mid-season form.</p><h2><b>Kyrie Irving’s first preseason game</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Kyrie-Irving-drives-to-basket-during-Jazz-Mavericks-preseason-game.jpg"><figcaption>Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Irving did not play in the Mavs’ first preseason game. He looked ready to go on Thursday, however. Irving controlled the pace of the game well. He only had one assist but it was clear that Irving was in control of the offense while on the floor.</p><p>Olivier-Maxence Prosper <a href="https://x.com/JoeyMistretta_/status/1844733496431882552" rel="noopener">was thrilled to play alongside</a> Irving once again.</p><p>“Playing with Kai (Irving) is so easy, he makes our lives so easy,” Prosper said. “He knows where to be on offense, he finds us shots. Just playing with him, his IQ of the game is so high. He makes our lives easier… so it’s great to have him back.”</p><p>Kidd said Irving played with a “purpose.” If he is already locked in during the preseason, one has to imagine that Kyrie may end up having a huge 2024-25 season. He will continue to prepare for the new campaign as the preseason continues.</p><p>The Mavericks and Clippers will go head-to-head on Monday night in Los Angeles.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving gets attention-catching ‘purpose’ admission from Jason Kidd

<!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', '/mavericks-news-kyrie-irving-anta-sneaker-release-october');   ga('set', 'title', 'Kyrie Irving, ANTA set for special sneaker release');   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/2024/10/Mavericks-news-Kyrie-Irving-ANTA-set-for-special-sneaker-release.jpg"></figure><h1>Kyrie Irving, ANTA set for special sneaker release</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-09T10:59:14-07:00">October 9th, 10:59am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-09T10:59:14-07:00">October 9th, 10:59am</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">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Kyrie Irving and ANTA <a href="https://x.com/JoeyMistretta_/status/1844064035404431715" rel="noopener">are set to release</a> the Dallas Mavericks superstar’s new signature sneaker. On Wednesday, it was announced that the “Chief Hélà” colorway of the ANTA KAI 1 will be available for purchase on October 12.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">ANTA is set to release the new "Chief Hélà" colorway of the ANTA KAI 1. The sneakers pay tribute to Kyrie Irving's Native American heritage, "blending cultural significance with cutting-edge design."</p><p>The ANTA KAI 1 Chief Hélà will be available for purchase starting October 12. <a href="https://t.co/KbmBhA29JS">pic.twitter.com/KbmBhA29JS</a></p><p>— Joey Mistretta (@JoeyMistretta_) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeyMistretta_/status/1844064035404431715?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The sneaker pays tribute to Irving’s Native American heritage, “blending cultural significance with cutting-edge design.”</p><p>Color Design Director Shaneika Warden explained the motivation behind the sneaker design.</p><p>“The Chief Hélà colorway reflects Kyrie’s roots, deeply grounded in the support of his family and heritage,” Warden said. “We wanted to capture that energy and bring it to life through this design, allowing fans to connect with Kyrie’s lineage every time they lace up.”</p><p>Kyrie’s thuwin (auntie), Charlotte Mountain of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, also commented on the Chief Hélà sneaker.</p><p>“Kyrie Irving’s deep connection to our Lakota heritage shines through in every step of his journey, and the ‘Chief Hélà’ shoe is a reflection of that bond. The shoe carries not just the spirit of the land, but the strength and wisdom of our people. By honoring his Lakota name, ‘Hélà,’ Kyrie is helping to share our culture with the world in a way that celebrates both tradition and progress.”</p><p>This is a special release for Irving and his family. Kyrie sneakers are always popular but these shoes are highly-anticipated without question.</p><h2><b>When did Kyrie Irving debut the sneakers?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Kyrie-Irving-during-Game-1-of-the-2024-Western-Conference-Finals.jpg"><figcaption>Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Chief Hélà colorway was initially debuted by Irving himself during the Western Conference Finals. Dallas defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves by a final score of 108-105 in the game. Irving’s sneakers received plenty of attention and fans have been wanting to purchase the Chief Hélà colorway ANTA KAI 1 for months now.</p><p>On November 12, they will receive the opportunity to do so.</p><p>The Mavericks ended up defeating the Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals. Dallas lost to the Boston Celtics in five games during the NBA Finals, though. Nevertheless, Irving’s first full season with the Mavericks was a success.</p><h2><b>Kyrie’s 2024-25 outlook with Mavericks</b></h2><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-jason-kidd-drops-bold-kyrie-irving-prediction-2024-25-season">Irving is set for a potentially big 2024-25 season</a>. The Mavericks added Klay Thompson during the offseason, so defenses will have another star to worry about in addition to Irving and Luka Doncic.</p><p>As a result, Kyrie may receive more opportunities to drive and score. Irving could also see more open looks from beyond the arc this year.</p><p>He averaged 25.6 points per game during the 2023-24 campaign. Irving shot 49.7 percent from the field, 41.1 percent from three-point range and 90.5 percent from the free throw line. Kyrie also recorded 5.2 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per outing.</p><p>It is worth noting that injuries limited Irving to only 58 games played. Nevertheless, he played well last year while on the floor. As long as injuries don’t play too much of a role this season, Irving should have a realistic opportunity to make the NBA All-Star team once again. He was most recently selected to the All-Star team during the 2022-23 season.</p><p>Perhaps Kyrie Irving will wear his new Chief Hélà colorway ANTA KAI 1 sneakers at some point during the season as well.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Kyrie Irving, ANTA set for special sneaker release

<!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', '/mavericks-news-luka-doncic-kyrie-irving-championship-marcus-smart');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mavericks’ Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving get championship truth bombs from Marcus Smart');   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/2024/10/Luka-Doncic-Kyrie-Irving-get-truth-bombs-from-Marcus-Smart.jpg"></figure><h1>Mavericks’ Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving get championship truth bombs from Marcus Smart</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-09T06:59:12-07:00">October 9th, 6:59am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-09T07:04:28-07:00">October 9th, 7:04am</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">Exclusive</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>DALLAS — The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-dallas-nba-preseason-jaden-hardy-jazian-gortman">Dallas Mavericks were defeated 121-116 in their preseason opener</a> against the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night. The morning before the game, however, Grizzlies guard Marcus Smart took some time to speak with ClutchPoints after Memphis’ shoot-around. Smart addressed a number of topics, including Kyrie Irving’s fit with the Mavs and Luka Doncic’s career progression.</p><h2><b>Marcus Smart explains “advantage” of having Kyrie Irving on the Mavericks roster</b></h2><p>Smart, who has played in the NBA since the 2014-15 season, is quite familiar with Irving’s game. He has seen the guard play with different teams and was impressed by Kyrie’s first full season with the Mavs.</p><p>“I thought it was great,” Smart told ClutchPoints of Irving’s first full season in Dallas. “I mean… Coming to Dallas nobody was expecting them to do what they did in the fashion that they did it. That shows a lot. Kai (Irving) came in and was a part of that process to get them there. Obviously you got Luka and those other guys, but to have Kai there is just a big advantage for them to help them get over that hump and get them to the next level. And that’s what they did… They didn’t win (a championship), but they got there. They figured out what it takes.”</p><p>Smart’s comments will increase the confidence of Mavericks fans. He clearly took notice of Dallas’ postseason run and believes the Mavs “figured out what it takes” to get the job done in the postseason.</p><h2><b>Luka Doncic’s career progression gets Marcus Smart admission</b></h2><p>Doncic has emerged as one of the best players in the NBA. He is a consistent MVP candidate. Although he has yet to win the award, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/2024-25-nba-media-poll-mvp-luka-doncic-shai-gilgeous-alexander-dethrone-nikola-jokic">Doncic is the favorite heading into the 2024-25 season</a>.</p><p>Smart said Doncic has “demanded” the league. The Grizzlies guard also explained how he played against a “16-year-old” Doncic, so Smart has truly seen Luka’s progression over the years.</p><p>“Oh man, just the way he’s came and demanded the league,” Smart said. “I actually had the opportunity to play against Luka when he was 16. We went to Milan and he was on the Milan team. You know, at the time, you see him, he’s a 16-year-old kid. Doesn’t look how he looks now. You see him now, it’s like that’s not the same 16-year-old kid. But Luka is a great player, we all know that. We all know what he has been doing and can do in this league. His progression… He’s taking even bigger steps.”</p><h2><b>Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving looking to lead Mavericks to championship</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Luka-Doncic-and-Kyrie-Irving-celebrate-during-2024-NBA-playoffs.jpg"><figcaption>Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Doncic and Irving are one of the best duos in the entire NBA. They have a legitimate argument to be referred to as the best duo in the entire league. Winning a championship would go a long way toward earning that title, though.</p><p>The Mavericks have high expectations for the upcoming 2024-25 campaign. Dallas added Klay Thompson and upgraded the roster depth around the stars. The Mavs are fresh off an NBA Finals appearance despite finishing as the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference last year.</p><p>Dallas should be able to take a step forward and finish with a better record in the regular season. As a result, the Mavs could end up being a top three seed in the West, which would obviously benefit a potential NBA Finals run.</p><p>At the moment, Doncic, Irving and the Mavericks are focused on the NBA preseason and preparing for the new season.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mavericks’ Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving get championship truth bombs from Marcus Smart

<!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', '/mavericks-news-klay-thompson-kyrie-irving-dallas-2024-25-preseason');   ga('set', 'title', 'Klay Thompson, Kyrie Irving’s potential Mavericks 2024-25 preseason debut date');   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/2024/10/Klay-Thompson-Kyrie-Irvings-potential-preseason-debut-date.jpg"></figure><h1>Klay Thompson, Kyrie Irving’s potential Mavericks 2024-25 preseason debut date</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-07T17:26:38-07:00">October 7th, 5:26pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-07T17:26:38-07:00">October 7th, 5:26pm</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">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>DALLAS — Klay Thompson and Kyrie Irving are among the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-luka-doncic-kyrie-irving-klay-thompson-dallas-preseason">Dallas Mavericks who will not play in the team’s preseason opener</a> on Monday night against the Memphis Grizzlies. Thompson and Irving are out for “rest,” as teams are often cautious about stars’ playing time in the preseason. However, Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said that Thompson and Irving <a href="https://x.com/JoeyMistretta_/status/1843416351693775140" rel="noopener">will most likely play</a> in the Mavs’ three remaining preseason games.</p><p>The Mavericks are set to host the Utah Jazz on Thursday night. Thompson and Irving could end up making their 2024-25 NBA preseason debuts on Thursday evening according to Kidd’s comments.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-dallas-klay-thompson-contract-free-agency">Thompson, who was acquired by the Mavericks during the offseason</a>, is one of the best three-point shooters of all-time. Still, it will be an adjustment for Thompson with a new team, as he had previously spent his entire career with the Golden State Warriors. The Mavericks want their stars to develop chemistry by playing alongside one another in the preseason.</p><p>It is still uncertain as to when <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-luka-doncic-calf-injury-training-camp">Luka Doncic will return as he is battling a calf injury</a>. At the very least, the Mavs want Irving and Thompson to develop experience playing alongside one another.</p><p>“The continuity is getting better each day, those two (Irving and Thompson) coach each other,” Kidd said. “They both didn’t want to come out of any reps, which is cool. Klay wants to do every rep.”</p><p>Kidd added that he is hopeful to have Doncic return “soon” so the three stars can continue to develop chemistry with each other. With that being said, Doncic does not have an official return timeline as of this story’s writing.</p><h2><b>Mavericks’ preseason outlook</b></h2><p>Staying healthy is the primary goal for the Mavs in the preseason. Of course, getting healthy can be added to that goal with players such as Luka Doncic and PJ Washington (Washington is dealing with a hip injury, but it’s not considered serious) battling injury concerns. The Mavs understand that the NBA season is long so they will proceed with caution.</p><p>As long as Irving and Thompson are healthy, though, they will likely play soon.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Klay Thompson, Kyrie Irving’s potential Mavericks 2024-25 preseason debut date

<!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', '/mavericks-news-kyrie-irving-dallas-defense-quentin-grimes');   ga('set', 'title', 'Kyrie Irving, Mavericks’ defense hit with ‘scary underrated’ truth bomb');   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/2024/10/Mavericks-news-Kyrie-Irving-Dallas-defense-hit-with-scary-underrated-truth-bomb.jpg"></figure><h1>Kyrie Irving, Mavericks’ defense hit with ‘scary underrated’ truth bomb</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-07T12:38:26-07:00">October 7th, 12:38pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-07T12:38:26-07:00">October 7th, 12:38pm</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">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks are set to play their first game of the 2024-25 NBA preseason on Monday night against the Memphis Grizzlies. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-luka-doncic-kyrie-irving-klay-thompson-dallas-preseason">Kyrie Irving will not play in the game</a>, but he was a subject of discussion while Mavs guard Quentin Grimes <a href="https://x.com/JoeyMistretta_/status/1843324561586348157" rel="noopener">spoke with reporters</a> after the team’s morning shoot-around.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Quentin Grimes called Kyrie Irving an “underrated defender.” I asked him what makes Kyrie good on the defensive end. </p><p>“Usually good offensive players are pretty underrated defenders… When I was in Brooklyn, I felt like he was an underrated defender.”<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OneforDallas?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OneforDallas</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MFFL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MFFL</a> <a href="https://t.co/3usXpYinSP">pic.twitter.com/3usXpYinSP</a></p><p>— Joey Mistretta (@JoeyMistretta_) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeyMistretta_/status/1843324561586348157?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>“Kai (Irving), kind of a really underrated defender honestly,” Grimes said. “I played against him in Brooklyn and everything.”</p><p>So what makes Irving a good defender?</p><p>“I mean… Usually good offensive players are pretty underrated defenders,” Grimes said. “So I remember in Brooklyn he was always like, really good with his hands, get his hands on a lot of balls… Get out in transition and get buckets. Kyrie, when I was in Brooklyn, I felt like he was always an underrated defender in my opinion.”</p><p>As mentioned earlier in the article, the Mavs are playing the Grizzlies on Monday night. That means Marcus Smart is in Dallas. Smart, an elite defender, spoke with ClutchPoints about Kyrie Irving’s defensive ability as well.</p><p>“Being in the league as long as I have, playing against Kai and playing with him, he is underrated (defensively),” Smart told ClutchPoints. “I think his scoring prowess is such at an all-time high that nobody really cares if Kyrie plays defense as much or nobody is really paying attention to his defense. He doesn’t get paid to come out here and play defense, he gets paid to come out here and put the ball through the hoop… He is a player where he does go under the radar defensively because nobody is expecting him to do it.</p><p>“I’ve seen Kyrie, playing against him and watching him, I’ve seen Kyrie sit down and lock up on somebody, too, when the game is on the line for sure.”</p><h2><b>Kyrie Irving looking to play crucial role for Mavericks defense</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Kyrie-Irving-defending-Jayson-Tatum-during-2024-NBA-Finals.jpg"><figcaption>Peter Casey-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Mavs’ offense is expected to be a lethal scoring unit. The defense, though, has more uncertainty.</p><p>Dallas is confident nonetheless. Perhaps Irving will play a crucial role for the defensive unit. Grimes believes the overall defense is “scary underrated.”</p><p>“I feel like this team defensively… We are scary underrated,” Grimes said.</p><p>The Mavericks could use big defensive seasons from centers Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford. Both will be looked upon as potential defensive anchors given their rim-protecting prowess. Klay Thompson is still a respectable defender, while players such as Naji Marshall and Quentin Grimes should be able to help on the defensive end of the floor as well.</p><p>The Mavericks are confident in their defense.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Kyrie Irving, Mavericks’ defense hit with ‘scary underrated’ truth bomb

<!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', '/mavericks-news-luka-doncic-kyrie-irving-klay-thompson-dallas-preseason');   ga('set', 'title', 'Why Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson are out for Mavericks’ preseason opener');   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/2024/10/Why-Luka-Doncic-Kyrie-Irving-Klay-Thompson-are-out-for-preseason-opener.jpg"></figure><h1>Why Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson are out for Mavericks’ preseason opener</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-07T11:05:30-07:00">October 7th, 11:05am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-07T11:05:30-07:00">October 7th, 11:05am</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">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks will host the Memphis Grizzlies in their <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grizzlies-news-memphis-not-going-vanilla-preseason-opener-mavericks">preseason opener on Monday night</a>. However, Dallas will be without a number of impactful players. Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson are <a href="https://x.com/JoeyMistretta_/status/1843335877730414802" rel="noopener">among the players who will not see any action on Monday evening</a>. PJ Washington, Dante Exum, Maxi Kleber, Brandon Williams and Kessler Edwards also will not play in the game.</p><p>So why are these players not playing in the preseason opener?</p><h2><b>Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson out for rest</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Jason-Kidd.jpg"><figcaption>Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Mavs announced that Irving and Thompson will not play due to “rest.” Many teams don’t place their stars in the lineup early in the preseason, and that seems to be the case here.</p><p>Mavericks fans are excited to see Thompson make his debut with the team. In fact, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-klay-thompson-dallas-naji-marshall">Thompson even received “we want Klay” chants</a> from fans during the Mavericks’ Fan Jam on Sunday.</p><p>However, fans will have to wait to see Thompson, as well as Irving, play in the preseason until at least Thursday.</p><h2><b>Luka Doncic among Mavericks dealing with injuries</b></h2><p>The Mavs also shared a number of injury updates on Monday. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-luka-doncic-calf-injury-training-camp">Luka Doncic is battling a left calf contusion</a> so he won’t play on Monday. Doncic suffered the injury before training camp and he was not expected to play in the preseason opener.</p><p>PJ Washington is dealing with left hip tightness. Washington’s absence means that four starters will not play in the game.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-dante-exum-injury-nba-preseason">Dante Exum suffered a potentially serious wrist injury</a> during training camp. His injury timeline is uncertain the moment.</p><p>Maxi Kleber (left ankle sprain), Brandon Williams (right calf strain) and Kessler Edwards (left ankle sprain) are also dealing with injuries. The Mavericks injuries will be worth closely monitoring ahead of the regular season. Dallas will proceed with caution as the preseason continues.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Why Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson are out for Mavericks’ preseason opener

<!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', '/celtics-news-jaylen-brown-luka-doncic-kyrie-irving-tough-guard');   ga('set', 'title', 'Jaylen Brown reveals what makes Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving so tough to guard');   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/2024/10/Celtics-news-Jaylen-Brown-reveals-what-makes-Luka-Doncic-Kyrie-Irving-so-tough-to-guard.jpg"></figure><h1>Jaylen Brown reveals what makes Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving so tough to guard</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-04T20:26:00-07:00">October 4th, 8:26pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-04T20:26:00-07:00">October 4th, 8:26pm</time><address><a>Nathan Yasis</a>Nathan Yasis is an Associate Editor for ClutchPoints, specializing in the NBA.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Jaylen Brown claimed the Finals MVP award, largely due to his impressive defense on Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. His all-around performance played a key role in the Boston Celtics’ five-game dominance over the Dallas Mavericks.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-jaylen-brown-makes-bold-nba-predictions-under-fire-hot-ones">Brown appeared on the popular show Hot Ones</a> with Sean Evans, where <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHuWxAXD5Pk" rel="noopener">he offered an insightful comparison</a> about guarding the Mavericks’ dynamic duo of Doncic and Irving. He likened it to listening to music.</p><h2><b>Jaylen Brown likening defense to music</b></h2><p>“There’s a rhythm and a cadence to how people play. Certain guys play to a certain beat, a certain cadence, a certain style. if you know their style, you can time what they’re going to do next because you know their rhythm and the BPM they play at,” said the Celtics star.</p><p>Drawing from firsthand experience, Jaylen Brown led the Boston Celtics past <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-klay-thompson-missing-piece-luka-doncic-kyrie-irving">Doncic, Irving, and the Mavericks</a>. While Doncic still posted impressive numbers—averaging 29.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 5.6 assists on 47.2% shooting—his efforts fell short. The Mavericks managed to break 100 points in only one of the five Finals games.</p><p>“Luka (Doncic) has a unique rhythm. It’s almost so slow that it’s hard to time. Kyrie has a unique rhythm as well, very one-of-one. His moves and cadences are very hard to time. He’s got a lot of counters, he can pivot off both feet, he can shoot with both hands, and he can drive in both directions, which makes his rhythm a lot harder to track,” Brown continued.</p><p>It’s a unique approach to describing defense, but it highlights why Dallas’ offense is so difficult to contain. With players as distinct as Doncic and Irving, defending requires not just skill but also a great deal of patience and anticipation to keep them in check without committing fouls.</p><p>“Some guys only go right, some guys only go left, and some guys have two moves that they go to. So, I look at basketball as poetry in motion, which is music. Everybody is playing their own song. Everybody samples from different artists. If you want to stop them you gotta study their rhythm, you gotta learn when their beat is about to drop.”</p><h2><b>Brown and the Celtics stifling Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Mavericks-Luka-Doncic-and-Kyrie-Irving-on-the-floor-during-the-playoffs.jpg"><figcaption>Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Brown was crucial in restricting Kyrie Irving’s impact, limiting him to 19.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists while shooting 41.4%. This marked a huge decline for Irving, who had been a potent scorer throughout both the regular season and Playoffs.</p><p>The Celtics overall effectively contained the Mavericks’ stars, particularly during the three games in Boston. They held Irving to just over 14 points per game while making Doncic earn every point, limiting his ability to execute his unusual passes to open shooters despite him still averaging 30 points per game.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-jaylen-brown-joe-mazzulla-killer-whale-offense-seals">Boston is known for their high-powered offense</a> that led the league in offensive rating and ranked second in team scoring, leaned on their stifling defense to hold the Mavericks to just 99.2 points per game, well below their regular season average of 117.9 PPG.</p><p>With Dallas’ dynamic duo unable to perform effectively together, Boston successfully neutralized the formidable Mavericks offense, winning the Larry O’Brien trophy. Jaylen Brown earned the 2024 NBA Finals MVP award, despite Jayson Tatum posting better statistics, as many believe Brown’s defensive contributions were the key difference.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Jaylen Brown reveals what makes Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving so tough to guard

<!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', '/mavericks-news-jason-kidd-drops-bold-kyrie-irving-prediction-2024-25-season');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mavericks’ Jason Kidd drops bold Kyrie Irving prediction for 2024-25 season');   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/2024/10/0Jason-Kidd-drops-bold-Kyrie-Irving-prediction-for-2024-25-season0.jpg"></figure><h1>Mavericks’ Jason Kidd drops bold Kyrie Irving prediction for 2024-25 season</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-04T10:02:44-07:00">October 4th, 10:02am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-04T10:08:43-07:00">October 4th, 10:08am</time><address><a>Jaren Kawada</a>Jaren Kawada is a former full-time sports bettor and is now a NFL, College Football and Betting Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. Kawada was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, but now resides in Indianapolis, Indiana, after graduating from Butler University with a B.A. in sports media. Aside from football, Kawada is an avid combat sports and basketball bettor.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd believes that at 32 years old, the best is still yet to come for Kyrie Irving. On the heels of a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-defense-tortured-luka-doncic-mavericks-season-ending-game-5-defeat">Western Conference championship</a>, Kidd sees a higher ceiling for the team in the 2024-2025 season, beginning with Irving.</p><p>The Dallas Mavericks head coach sat down with Marc Stein of the DLLS Mavs podcast in a video published on Oct. 4. Kidd said that he believes <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlscuChT8cU" rel="noopener">Irving will be even “better” in his third season</a> with the team and will be one of Dallas’ biggest X-factors, even with the offseason addition of Klay Thompson.</p><p>“[Kyrie Irving] has really loved being in Dallas,” Kidd said on the DLLS Mavs podcast. “He loves the situation. He respects [general manager Nico Harrison] and myself. He wants to win and I think you saw that in the numbers he put up… You can see that in training camp. He’s doing all the reps [and] doesn’t want to sit out. I think you’re going to see an even better Kyrie this season.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"I think you're gonna see a better Kyrie this season." Jason Kidd shared with <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSteinLine?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheSteinLine</a> why superstar Kyrie Irving has been so impactful already during his time with the Mavericks, but believes he'll be even better in 2024-25.</p><p>Full interview: <a href="https://t.co/awThcXrKe3">https://t.co/awThcXrKe3</a> <a href="https://t.co/yXHkWeYezd">pic.twitter.com/yXHkWeYezd</a></p><p>— DLLS Mavs (@DLLS_Mavs) <a href="https://twitter.com/DLLS_Mavs/status/1841919709228224965?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 3, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>In his first full season with Dallas, Irving averaged 25.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game in 58 appearances during the 2023-2024 season. The scoring numbers were his lowest since the 2018-2019 season but the chemistry Irving showed with Luka Doncic caused some, including TNT analyst Stan Van Gundy, to refer to the duo as the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-luka-doncic-kyrie-irving-best-offensive-duo-ever-paul-pierce-says">greatest scoring backcourt of all time</a>.</p><p>Kidd made a point to note the injury concerns for Irving during his praise of the guard, as the three-time all-NBA nominee has not played more than 60 games in a single season since his final year with the Boston Celtics in 2018-2019.</p><h2><b>Mavericks enter 2024-2025 with third-best odds to repeat as Western Conference champions</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Jason-Kidd.jpg"><figcaption>Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Should Kyrie Irving remain healthy for his 14th year in the NBA and make the leap Jason Kidd predicted him to, the Dallas Mavericks would be in an ideal position to claw their way back to their second consecutive NBA Finals appearance. Following the team’s acquisition of Thompson in free agency, sportsbooks increased their chances of winning the Western Conference, giving them the third-best odds.</p><p>Per DraftKings Sportsbook, the Mavericks are listed only behind the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets as favorites to come out of the west by the end of the season. The Thunder ended the 2023-2024 season with the No. 1 seed in the conference before disappointing in the playoffs while the Nuggets are just one year removed from winning the 2023 NBA Finals.</p><p>Along with Thompson, Dallas’ 2024 offseason also included the notable additions of Spencer Dinwiddie, Naji Marshall and Quentin Grimes.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mavericks’ Jason Kidd drops bold Kyrie Irving prediction for 2024-25 season

<!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', '/mavericks-news-kyrie-irving-makes-goat-admission-about-celtics');   ga('set', 'title', 'Kyrie Irving makes GOAT admission about Celtics');   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/2024/10/Kyrie-Irving-makes-GOAT-admission-about-Celtics.jpg"><figcaption>ClutchPoints</figcaption></figure><h1>Kyrie Irving makes GOAT admission about Celtics</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-03T09:10:10-07:00">October 3rd, 9:10am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-03T09:10:10-07:00">October 3rd, 9:10am</time><address><a>Julian Ojeda</a>Julian Ojeda is an Orlando-based sports journalist with 3 years of professional writing under his belt, specializing in both NBA and NFL coverage. A devoted Orlando Magic fan, he deftly balances fervent fandom with insightful reporting, possessing a keen eye for compelling narratives.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>As the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-klay-thompson-looks-dangerous-in-first-training-camp-with-dallas">2024-25 NBA season approaches</a>, Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving took a moment during Mavericks Media Day to reflect on his performance in the 2024 NBA Finals. In a conversation with Locked on Mavs, Irving acknowledged that his performance in the Finals was not a true representation of his capabilities, while <a href="https://x.com/LockedOnMavs/status/1841238484331184451" rel="noopener">giving significant credit</a> to the Boston Celtics’ elite defense for making life difficult for him and the Mavericks.</p><p>“I have always known that going against some guys that I’ve played [with] is always going to be some of the toughest,” Irving stated. He specifically highlighted several Celtics players who caused him trouble during the series. “Playing against Jrue Holiday, [Jayson Tatum], [Jaylen Brown], even Derrick White and Al Horford. That starting five with [Kristaps Porzingis] thrown in there, they had a great defensive group, and they play extremely well off each other on the defensive end.”</p><h2><b>Kyrie Irving credits Celtics’ elite defense for limiting his impact in NBA Finals</b></h2><p>Kyrie Irving further expressed his admiration for the Celtics’ defense, describing them as one of the best teams he had ever faced. “It wasn’t like I could get isos every time against everybody. We [were] going against one of the best defensive teams of all time, not one of the best defensive teams of just the past few seasons. That was a special group… I give credit to the Boston Celtics,” Irving remarked.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Kyrie Irving explains his struggles on the road in the NBA Finals <a href="https://t.co/OxJiXl2pvj">pic.twitter.com/OxJiXl2pvj</a></p><p>— Locked On Mavs (@LockedOnMavs) <a href="https://twitter.com/LockedOnMavs/status/1841238484331184451?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>Despite his impressive career and reputation as one of the best scorers in the NBA, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-kyrie-irving-admission-dallas-nba-finals-celtics">Irving’s performance in the Finals fell short of expectations</a>. Over the five-game series against the Celtics, he averaged 19.8 points per game, shooting 41.4% from the field and just 27.6% from three-point range. These statistics underscore the effectiveness of Boston’s defense, which played a crucial role in limiting Irving’s offensive impact.</p><p>Irving’s comments during Media Day highlight the challenge of facing a historically elite defense. While his own performance may not have met his usual playoff standards, he made it clear that Boston’s relentless defensive effort throughout the Finals was a key factor in his struggles. Irving’s reflection adds another layer of recognition to the Celtics’ defensive prowess as they continue to be viewed as one of the NBA’s top teams.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Kyrie Irving makes GOAT admission about Celtics

<!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', '/kyrie-irving-releases-new-yin-and-yang-anta-kai-1-sneakers');   ga('set', 'title', 'Kyrie Irving releases new ‘Yin and Yang’ ANTA KAI 1 sneakers');   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/2024/09/Kyrie-Irving-releases-new-Yin-and-Yang-ANTA-KAI-1-sneakers.jpg"></figure><h1>Kyrie Irving releases new ‘Yin and Yang’ ANTA KAI 1 sneakers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-30T16:01:27-07:00">September 30th, 4:01pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-30T16:01:44-07:00">September 30th, 4:01pm</time><address><a>Dominik Zawartko</a>Dominik Zawartko is a Michigan State graduate with a degree in Political Science and English. Having previously worked in the nonprofit and legal sectors, he decided to pursue his true love of writing with ClutchPoints. Dominik's hobbies include painting, cooking food, training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and always having a laugh. His main focus areas are UFC coverage and all things sneakers.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Mini-Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Dallas Mavericks’ guard Kyrie Irving has been all over the globe this offseason promoting his latest ANTA KAI 1 signature sneakers. Along with the signature model, Irving is also rolling out a lifestyle and apparel brand under ANTA, making the most of his role as Creative Director and expanding his vision through his products. Recently, ANTA and Irving released a highly-anticipated two-shoe pack of his ANTA KAI 1.</p><p><i><b>Check our <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/sneakers">Sneakers news</a> for more upcoming releases and breaking content!</b></i></p><p>The ANTA KAI 1 is the latest creation from Kyrie Irving and serves as a constant reminder to the journey he’s on as a player. The latest “Yin Yang” colorway is meant to represent the balance Irving plays with and tries to live his life with. The ancient Chinese philosophy has become a core tenet in Irving’s approach to the game and the dual colorway of the sneakers looks to embody the same.</p><h2>ANTA KAI 1 “Yin and Yang”</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/anta-kai-1-yin-1-e1727735929852.webp"><figcaption>images via ANTA</figcaption></figure><p>The “Yin” ANTA KAI 1 features a monochromatic colorway in black with every feature of the shoe, besides the Kyrie logo on the tongue, drenched in a flat black color. The black represents stillness, focus, and hidden power. The colorway is meant to embody Kyrie Irving’s calm strength and inner focus when the game is on the line.</p><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/anta-kai-1-yang-1-e1727736171217.webp"></figure><p>The all-white “Yang” pair also features a monochromatic look, but has elements of silver throughout the logos and a translucent rubber outsole. The Yang symbolizes light, action, and vitality. For Kyrie Irving, the white colorway captures his lightning-fast speed and agility on the court while keeping a calm and leveled demeanor.</p><p>The ANTA KAI 1 features the latest in sneaker technology with its varied use of materials, from a carbon fiber midfoot plate, lateral TPU support, and Nitrogen tech throughout the midsoles. The shoes have become extremely popular amongst hoopers for their performance capabilities and it certainly helps having a talented player like Kyrie Irving wearing these night-in and night-out.</p><p>The ANTA KAI 1 “Yin Yang” is currently available on <a href="https://anta.com/products/anta-kai-1-yang">ANTA’s</a> website in both colorways and full sizing. Both pairs retail for $125 and while you can choose from the white or the black pair, the ultimate move may be to get both pairs and rock one of each shoe. Either way, these are a very clean release and with them coming in full family sizing, everyone will have a chance to grab these.</p><p>What do you think of Irving’s newest shoe?</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Kyrie Irving releases new ‘Yin and Yang’ ANTA KAI 1 sneakers

<!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', '/mavericks-news-why-mark-cuban-180-thinking-kyrie-irving-team-killer');   ga('set', 'title', 'Why Mavericks’ Mark Cuban did 180 on thinking Kyrie Irving was a ‘team killer’');   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/2024/09/0Why-Mark-Cuban-did-180-on-thinking-Kyrie-Irving-was-a-team-killer0.jpg"></figure><h1>Why Mavericks’ Mark Cuban did 180 on thinking Kyrie Irving was a ‘team killer’</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-26T07:51:44-07:00">September 26th, 7:51am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-26T07:51:44-07:00">September 26th, 7:51am</time><address><a>Preston Byers</a>Preston Byers is an experienced writer and journalist who currently serves as an associate editor for ClutchPoints and as a staff writer at The Vindicator and Tribune Chronicle, where he covers sports in the Mahoning Valley. Previously, Preston worked as an associate editor for Dot Esports and a site expert for FanSided's Union and Blue.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>It’s unusual to hear a team owner say he believed one of his best players was once a “team killer,” so it must be a good thing <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-mark-cuban-explains-decision-sell-majority-stake-mavs">Mark Cuban is no longer the owner</a> of the Dallas Mavericks because he did that with Kyrie Irving.</p><p>Cuban, who sold his majority stake in the Mavericks late last year, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DAVdTTgGcU" rel="noopener">said he had been</a> under the impression that Irving was the cause of several teams breaking up before his arrival in Dallas.</p><p>“Before I did the work, I thought Kyrie was a team killer,” Cuban said on Shannon Sharpe’s ‘Club Shay Shay’ podcast. “I was like, ‘He’s not going to fit in anywhere.’ I never talked to people about him. There was no point. But when the opportunity to trade for him came up, we did the work. [Mavericks general manager] Nico Harrison knew him, [Mavs head coach] Jason Kidd knew him, and I started talking to people who had played with him. And everybody loved him. Nobody had a bad word to say about Kyrie who had ever stepped on the court with him. That told me what I needed to know.</p><p>“He’s misunderstood. He has a heart of gold and just wants to help people. That’s who he is. Look at his social media — it’s all about his tribe and the people around him. Once I saw that, it was easy to make the decision to trade for him.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"></figure><h2><b>Kyrie Irving went from supposed ‘team killer’ to Mavericks leader</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Naz-Reid-defending-Kyrie-Irving.jpg"><figcaption>© Jerome Miron-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Before this season with the Mavericks, who made it to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011, being a coach or team ‘killer’ was a relatively common characterization of Irving. The former No. 1 overall pick had requested a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017, a year after winning the franchise’s first NBA title, and then left the Boston Celtics in free agency two years later despite saying planned on re-signing.</p><p>With the Brooklyn Nets, Irving was held out of home games for refusing to be vaccinated during the COVID-19 pandemic and later was slapped with a suspension by the team after a social media post about an antisemitic book and film. Irving eventually requested a trade out of Brooklyn after contract extension talks fizzled out, which led him to Dallas, where the initial results were lackluster.</p><p>At the time of the trade, the Mavericks were 28-26 and sat in sixth in the Western Conference. The team struggled mightily adjusting to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavs-news-kyrie-irving-warning-nba-luka-doncic-partnership">Irving and Luka Doncic playing together</a>, and by the end of the season, the Mavericks were 38-44 and finished in 11th, missing out on the playoffs and Play-In.</p><p>Irving and the Mavericks’ 2023-24 season went much better, with Dallas winning 50 games and earning the fifth seed before advancing to the NBA Finals, where the Mavs lost to the Celtics, Irving’s former team.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Why Mavericks’ Mark Cuban did 180 on thinking Kyrie Irving was a ‘team killer’

<!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', '/mavericks-news-kyrie-irving-china-tour-handles');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving enjoying China tour with smooth handles');   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/2024/09/Mavericks-news-Kyrie-Irving-enjoying-China-tour-with-smooth-handles.jpg"></figure><h1>Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving enjoying China tour with smooth handles</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-20T11:32:15-07:00">September 20th, 11:32am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-20T11:32:15-07:00">September 20th, 11:32am</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">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving appears to be in mid-season form already and NBA training camps have not even started yet. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-shirtless-kyrie-irving-mobbed-adoring-fans-in-china">Irving is currently on his China tour</a> and was seen playing basketball at a youth camp. He wasn’t taking it too easy, though, <a href="https://x.com/kyriecenterig/status/1837171462668538266" rel="noopener">displaying his elite handles</a>, per Kyrie Center.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Kyrie was putting on a SHOW during his Skills Camp in China 😭🔥 <a href="https://t.co/O62C1WwrUn">pic.twitter.com/O62C1WwrUn</a></p><p>— Kyrie Center (@kyriecenterig) <a href="https://twitter.com/kyriecenterig/status/1837171462668538266?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 20, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Kyrie is arguably the best ball-handler of all-time. Many players around the NBA have said that Kyrie is the most difficult player to guard. He’s also a good three-point shooter and passer, which adds to the difficulty of defending him. Additionally, Irving is a terrific finisher around the basket.</p><p>The video of Irving on Friday provides a big update as well. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-kyrie-irving-undergoes-surgery-after-concerning-hand-injury">Kyrie previously underwent surgery</a> after suffering a hand injury in July. Although he was expected to be ready to go before the 2024-25 season, nothing was certain. The fact that Irving was seen on the floor is an encouraging sign.</p><p>If the injury was a serious issue, he wouldn’t be playing basketball right now. Perhaps Kyrie Irving will be ready to go for training camp in early October.</p><h2><b>Kyrie Irving poised for big 2024-25 season</b></h2><p>Irving now has a full season of experience with the Mavericks following the 2023-24 campaign. He played a pivotal role alongside Luka Doncic in leading Dallas to the NBA Finals. The Mavs fell short against the Boston Celtics in the Finals, however, adding motivation for Irving and the team heading into the new campaign.</p><p>Irving is still one of the best guards in the NBA when healthy. Kyrie and Luka have developed impressive chemistry alongside one another on the floor as well. They emerged as one of the best duos in the entire NBA last season.</p><p>Irving is on track to have a big 2024-25 campaign. He would love to help the Mavs win their first championship since 2011.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving enjoying China tour with smooth handles

<!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', '/mavericks-news-shirtless-kyrie-irving-mobbed-adoring-fans-in-china');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mavericks star Kyrie Irving mobbed by adoring fans in China');   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/2024/09/Mavericks-news-Shirtless-Kyrie-Irving-mobbed-by-adoring-fans-in-China.jpg"></figure><h1>Mavericks star Kyrie Irving mobbed by adoring fans in China</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-18T13:08:38-07:00">September 18th, 1:08pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-18T13:08:38-07:00">September 18th, 1:08pm</time><address><a>Jackson Stone</a>Jackson Stone is a Mercer University senior from Atlanta on track to graduate with a BA in communications. A lifelong sports lover, Jackson is a die-hard fan of all Atlanta teams. He joined ClutchPoints in 2023.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>It seems that Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving is enjoying himself in the 2024 offseason. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-kyrie-irving-eye-opening-move-after-jayson-tatum-finals-prediction">Irving was recently</a> spotted walking shirtless through the streets of China, with fans of <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-dallas-nba-finals-cowboys-micah-parsons">the Mavericks star</a> bombarding him with <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1836401349665145065" rel="noopener">autograph and picture requests.</a></p><p>(via Kyrie Center on X, formerly Twitter).</p><p>https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1836401349665145065</p><p>NBA players are currently enjoying the last couple of weeks of rest and recovery that they will have before training camp kicks back into gear starting in a couple weeks in preparation for the upcoming 2024-25 NBA season, which begins on October 22.</p><p>It’s been a busy offseason for the Mavericks, who parted ways with familiar faces like Derrick Jones Jr. in free agency but also were able to lure in sharpshooter Klay Thompson from the Golden State Warriors, addressing a need that stuck out like a sore thumb in their NBA Finals loss to the Boston Celtics, Irving’s former team.</p><h2><b>Have the Mavericks done enough to catch the Celtics?</b></h2><p>No.</p><p>While Thompson does indeed bring a level of floor spacing and firepower that was sorely missing from the Mavericks’ lineup in their loss to the Celtics, the series was so lopsided that it seemed Dallas was at least two or three pieces away from truly balancing the scales.</p><p>It’s also worth considering just how productive Thompson will be in his age 35 season, and the fact that he’s no longer a plus on the defensive end of the floor, complicating lineups that head coach Jason Kidd may want to run featuring him alongside Irving and Luka Doncic.</p><p>At this point, it seems that the days of hoping that Irving will be able to break whatever mental block he has when facing the Celtics are over, as the point guard once again seemed out of his element under the TD Garden lights in the playoffs.</p><p>In any case, Dallas is set to get things tipped off on October 23 vs the San Antonio Spurs.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mavericks star Kyrie Irving mobbed by adoring fans in China

<!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', '/mavericks-news-kyrie-irving-eye-opening-move-after-jayson-tatum-finals-prediction');   ga('set', 'title', 'Kyrie Irving’s eye-opening move after Jayson Tatum’s Finals prediction');   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/2024/09/0-Kyrie-Irvings-eye-opening-move-after-Jayson-Tatums-Finals-prediction-0.jpg"></figure><h1>Kyrie Irving’s eye-opening move after Jayson Tatum’s Finals prediction</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-14T07:57:50-07:00">September 14th, 7:57am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-14T08:01:55-07:00">September 14th, 8:01am</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">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Boston Celtics champion <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-jayson-tatum-dallas-nba-finals-prediction-luka-doncic">Jayson Tatum predicted an NBA Finals rematch</a> after beating Kyrie Irving, Luka Doncic, and the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals. Tatum said this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HhCoN0OWmE&amp;embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fclutchpoints.com%2F&amp;source_ve_path=MjM4NTE" rel="noopener">during his appearance</a> on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon this week, which ignited hype surrounding a potential Celtics/Mavs rematch in 2025. It also may have inspired Irving <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1834943867550130581" rel="noopener">to change his profile picture</a> on Instagram, standing on TD Garden’s parquet floor in a picture from the NBA Finals, as many speculate is in response to Tatum’s recent prediction.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">After Jayson Tatum stated they’ll meet the Mavs again in the Finals, Kyrie Irving did this.</p><p>Who’s up for a rematch? 🤔 <a href="https://t.co/NdO4mBYc9Q">pic.twitter.com/NdO4mBYc9Q</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1834943867550130581?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 14, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Irving, the former Celtic who famously balked at re-signing with Boston in 2019 before signing with the Brooklyn Nets, has a storied history with the franchise and its fanbase. Kyrie also stepped on the team’s mascot logo moments after he, Kevin Durant, James Harden, and the Nets eliminated his former team in the opening-round series of the 2021 playoffs.</p><p>After a busy offseason for the Mavericks’ front office and players, Dallas is positioned to make another deep playoff run in 2025. The Mavs signed five-time All-Star shooting guard Klay Thompson to a three-year, $50 million contract, while Irving underwent successful surgery to correct his broken left hand and will be ready for training camp.</p><h2><b>Kyrie Irving participates in Mavericks’ offseason minicamp</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Mavericks-star-Kyrie-Irving.jpg"><figcaption>Peter Casey-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Kyrie Irving, Luka Doncic, Klay Thompson, and the Mavericks have already begun training for the upcoming season to prepare for a potential rematch against Jayson Tatum and the champion Celtics. The Western Conference champions <a href="https://x.com/KevinGraySports/status/1828596911332315472" rel="noopener">are conducting offseason workouts</a> in Los Angeles, and Irving, whose availability was limited, joined his Mavs teammates, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.</p><p>“Kyrie Irving, we know, in July, had surgery on his left hand. But Kyrie, I’m told, was there throughout. He’s very limited in what he can do,” Stein wrote. “At this point, he’s not been cleared yet for a full 5-on-5 hoop. But, basically, what I’ve been told is he remains on course to be cleared in time for training camp. So, I don’t think there’s any concern there. And, of course, it’s in LA, so Southern California native Klay Thompson is going to be there.”</p><p>Stein says the offseason bonding has brought the team closer on and off the basketball floor.</p><p>“Everything I heard about the minicamp was that the on-court stuff was great, but maybe the off-court stuff was even better, and I could see why that would be kind of the rumble going around about it because it is, you know, it is becoming more common in the NBA,” Stein wrote. “But I don’t know that too many Mavs teams of the past had 15 guys getting together in LA in August.</p><p>While <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-luka-doncic-insane-soccer-skills-paolo-banchero">Doncic showed off his soccer skills alongside Paolo Banchero</a>, the Orlando Magic All-Star, Luka could be entering 2024-25 in the best shape of his NBA career. The stars are aligned for the Mavs to make another deep playoff run.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2023-24 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
25.6	5.0	5.2	0.5	1.3

2023-24 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
25.6	5.0	5.2	0.5	1.3

Kyrie Irving news

Kyrie
Irving news