SUMMARY
- Kyrie Irving sustained a major right heel contusion during a game against the Portland Trail Blazers on December 8, 2023.
- Irving shared insights into the challenges posed by his injury, revealing difficulties in putting on shoes and double socks.
Kyrie Irving, the star guard of the Dallas Mavericks, has missed 12 games since December 8, 2023, when the team faced off against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center. While the roster did well and scored 125-112, outshining the Blazers, bad news hit the team in the initial minutes of the second quarter. Dwight Powell unknowingly fell on the former’s right foot while attempting to recover a rebound, and Irving’s leg hit the floor and then bounced back a few centimeters.
This concussion left the guard susceptible to a major right heel contusion, and the player had to exit the arena in a wheelchair. Although he showed team spirit and tried to post a couple of free throws even after sustaining the injury, Kyrie Irving had to force himself out after 13 minutes of gameplay. After taking his own sweet time to recover from the aching heel, the 31-year-old guard made a comeback against the Utah Jazz tonight.
Kyrie Irving says he’s never had an injury situation like this in his career. Used the word humbling. pic.twitter.com/8tLXT44Xyd
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) January 2, 2024
In a post-game interview, Irving didn’t shy away from narrating the major impacts of this significant injury. While accepting that this injury was a unique one and he hadn’t faced any of this kind, ‘Uncle Drew’ made a confession. Irving spilled the beans on how he couldn’t put both of his shoes on at the same time and had problems putting on double socks. He also admitted that in his first game tonight, he wanted to test the waters with the newly-heeled injury and didn’t want to go back to square one.
While calling the injury a humbling experience, he said, “So, it’s first time in my career I had this type of injury, it was unique, and I wasn’t sure how long I was gonna be out for…and you get real…I don’t want to say humble…but you realize that the injury is a lot more significant…..”
Thanking his teammates and the medical staff, the star player of the Dallas Mavericks expressed his gratitude. However, even though the duo, Irving and Doncic, were on the hardwood tonight, the Mavericks suffered a significant loss.
What went wrong for the Dallas Mavericks vs. the Utah Jazz?
The Dallas Mavericks are currently standing at No. 7 in the Western Conference and suffered a massive loss against the Utah Jazz tonight. Trailing by a major 37 points, the offensive champions of the league couldn’t score a win, even though the duo of Kyrie Irving and Luka Dončić were on the floor tonight. While Irving scored 14 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists, Doncic amassed 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 14 assists. Starting off the new year in an embarrassing fashion, the Mavs witnessed some of the worst turnovers from their players.
One reason why the Jazz came out victorious is that the last time the two went against each other, the Mavs defeated the Jazz, 147-97, by a major lead. Keeping the game plan into account, Walker Kessler and Co. worked on their weekly points and presented a well-guarded defense.