“Left Knee Buckles, ACL Tear”: Kyrie Irving Bends His Knee the Wrong Way, Doctor Braces for the ‘Worst Case Scenario’

Kyrie Irving is a true basketball purist. Anybody would be foolish to assume for even a second that he would not look to drain his two free throws after one of the worst knee extension injuries we’ve seen in a while. However, the nature of the injury has got fans and certified doctors bracing for the worst.

Irving is no stranger to lower body injuries. Despite this, it’s still quite surprising when he does suffer one of these given how meticulous of a player he is. Every step, every stride he takes has been calculated 100 times over in his head.

This goes to show that freak injuries are sometimes just that: freak injuries. If Irving, on his way to the rack, something he’s done more times than people could ever count, can go down, then any quite literally anybody else could in the league.

In Monday night’s game against the Kings, around the 2:40 mark of the 1^st quarter, Kyrie suffered from, what looks like a severe hyperextension of his left knee on his way to the hoop. “I don’t like the way his left knee buckles and hyperextends,” said Dr. Evan Jeffries on X.

The worst case scenario here by Dr. Jeffries has been stated as “ACL tear”. At the time of the injury, the reporting was consistent with it being a hyperextension. At closer examination, if it truly is just that then it is one of the worst hyperextensions we’ve seen in a while.

Here is the Kyrie Irving Knee injury video…

I don’t like the way his left knee buckles and hyperextends

-Best case scenario: Hyperextension/bone bruise

-Worst case scenario: ACL tear pic.twitter.com/HHOXo8Pv5e

— Dr. Evan Jeffries, DPT (@GameInjuryDoc) March 4, 2025

Paul George had a similar injury to his knee in mid-October of 2024 during preseason play. It would be classified as a bone bruise and despite how gruesome it looked, he did return in merely 20 days or so, playing against the Suns on November 5.

Kyrie was lauded for emulating his mentor, Kobe Bryant, by staying in the game and knocking down both his free throws. He was unfortunately ruled out for the rest of the game, having been carried off the floor by trainers with some help from Anthony Davis.

Mavericks fans have not been treated to all too great of a season to say the least. Everything from Luka Doncic being traded to Anthony Davis getting injured in his debut game, this isn’t the ‘cherry on top’ that the MFFL legion were looking for.

All that can be done now is pray that the injury is merely a bone bruise, similar to what PG was hit with earlier this season. If that’s the case, then Irving certainly would be able to come back by the time the play-in/postseason rounds the corner.