Kyrie Irving still has a long road to recovery after he suffered a torn ACL in March, and the Dallas Mavericks star does not want to place a firm timeline on his potential return.
During a live stream over the weekend, Irving was asked by a fan if the point guard expects to be back before the playoffs next season. Though the 2025-26 postseason will be more than a year after Irving injured his knee, he did not commit to returning by then.
“Don’t hold your breath on that, you know what I’m saying? It doesn’t mean that I won’t be back. Just, I don’t want to make any predictions on when I’m gonna be back,” Irving said. “I just want to be back 150,000 percent better, so I’m taking my time right now to really get healthy. I’m taking my time to really get my body right, other portions of my body right and really just enjoy this recovery process.
“It’s not pretty. Yes, it is a beautiful struggle, but I go through kind of the mental rollercoaster ride of every day. I just want to be back out there.”
Kyrie Irving if he’ll be back for playoffs:
— Swish Access (@SwishAccess) July 6, 2025
“Don’t hold your breath on that… I just want to be back 150,000% better. I’m taking my time right now to really get healthy… I just want to be back out there.”
(Via Kyrie’s stream) #NBA pic.twitter.com/tVZDLAiWpY
Irving tore his ACL during a game against the Sacramento Kings on March 3. ACL tears typically require a recovery period of 10-12 months for basketball players. There was a report back in April that said Irving is optimistic about beating that timeline.
The Mavericks clearly are not concerned about any long-term issues for Irving. The 33-year-old recently declined his player option for next season and signed a massive extension.
Irving averaged 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists across 50 games last season before the injury. The future looked extremely grim for the Mavericks after they traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February, but they then landed the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft.
If Irving returns by midseason, Dallas should easily be a playoff team with him, Anthony Davis and rookie Cooper Flagg.
