The situation has continued to grow more dire in Dallas following Kyrie Irving’s season-ending ACL tear. Most of the Mavericks’ downfall can be traced back to their unceremonious trade of Luka Doncic, but Lou Williams stressed that Irving’s long-term injury shouldn’t be connected with the move.
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After being informed that Irving’s injury would be keeping him out for the foreseeable future, Williams pleaded for fans to stop beating a dead horse.
“We can’t blame everything on this Luka trade,” he said. “At some point, we’re gonna have to move on, and we’re gonna have to place responsibility where it deserves to be.”
The former Sixth Man of the Year pointed out that tragic injuries happen in basketball all the time, as unfortunate as they are. Injuries are simply a result of the fire and competitiveness of the game, and a trade from over a month ago cannot be blamed for this catastrophe.
“We can’t blame everything on this Luka trade.”@TeamLou23 says despite Kyrie being out for the season with a torn ACL, we can’t blame the trade for this injury!
Do you agree?@MichelleDBeadle | @ChandlerParsons | @TeamLou23 pic.twitter.com/plUf6OdlD5
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) March 4, 2025
Irving had been leading the NBA with 39.3 points since the Doncic trade. The star point guard had extra stress on his shoulders to lead his team to the playoffs and the former champion was ready to assume the responsibility.
However, Williams noted that an added workload can lead to injuries for offensive leaders like Irving. But still, it’s just part of the game.
Shams Charania discussed the Mavs’ future following Irving’s injury
Things weren’t looking great for Dallas, as the team was struggling to gain ground in the Western Conference even before Irving went down. Now barely clinging on to a play-in spot, the Mavs will have to hope their collection of role players can battle it out through the end of the season.
As Shams Charania put it, it’s a devastating blow to a team that looked to Irving as their best player for 50 of their 65 contests.
The Doncic trade was enough to upset most fans, but the injuries to Irving and Anthony Davis that would soon follow have resulted in one of the toughest month-long stretches a fanbase has ever had to endure.
Charania stressed how the Mavs’ playoff hopes are in jeopardy, even mentioning their stark drop in title odds from 66-1 to 200-1. At those odds, the markets are essentially guaranteeing that Dallas won’t be taking part in the postseason.
With other playoff-hopeful teams breathing down their neck for the 10th seed, it seems likely that Dallas will be relegated to a lottery team in the coming weeks. Now, playing without a single All-Star caliber talent will be a brutal path to the finish line for the Mavericks.
