“When it rains, it pours.”
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This phrase perfectly describes how the season has been going for the Dallas Mavericks. Initially, they dealt with an injured Luka Doncic before trading him for Anthony Davis, who went down with an injury in his first game for the franchise. To add to it, Kyrie Irving limped off in the first quarter last night after suffering a sprain to his left knee.
The Mavericks initially were facing a big man crisis, with injuries to Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford, and AD. But now, with Kyrie out too, they have no recognisable superstar on the floor.
Shannon Sharpe used Kai’s injury to bring up a point he’s been trying to emphasize for a while now- that one player cannot take on an ungodly amount of responsibilities for a team without it going sideways.
He talked about how Kyrie’s age also played a factor in his injury, reminding his NightCap co-host Chad Johnson that players usually average fewer minutes later on in their career. “He’s averaging the third most minutes in his career,” said Sharpe. “And he’s doing it as he’s starting to get older.”
He brought up examples of some of the greats, referencing Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James, and how they gradually reduced their playing time later in their careers. “Normally, the minutes start to decrease!” he reminded Ocho.
“I think one year, LeBron played 42 minutes a night, Jordan was up there, Kobe was up there. But as you start getting 30, now, you start coming back,” he said. “I need to be round somewhere between 35 and 37,” he added, reminding Johnson that older players aren’t expected to carry the offense like Kyrie has had to do for a couple of weeks.
Kyrie, 32, played 40 minutes a game in February, and he followed it up with a 38-minute outing against the Bucks in the first game of March. Add the offensive burden he’s been forced to carry in this period, and it’s easy to understand how he picked up the injury.
Unc also reminded Ocho that there was a difference between playing 36 minutes with another star to share the burden. He added how Irving played 35 minutes a game last year, but being the second option to Luka Doncic helped massively with his injury management.
With the Mavericks now missing a significant portion of their roster due to injuries, they may be concerned about how the rest of the season plays out for them. Irving’s injury has still not been fully diagnosed, but the initial fear of it being a serious injury will keep Mavs fans worried for a while.
A best-case scenario would mean Irving would be fit for action in 1-2 weeks, but in the tightly packed West, even a 1-week absence could see the Mavs drop from the play-in race to a vacation in Cancun come April.
