DALLAS — Kyrie Irving thanked fans for their prayers Friday and said bringing his family closer together is what he is most proud of from his 18 months away from the court. The guard spoke at Dallas Mavericks media day at American Airlines Center, the day before training camp opens.
Irving tore the ACL in his left knee on March 3, 2025, against the Sacramento Kings. Dallas ruled him out for the 2025-26 season Feb. 18. He made his ninth All-Star team in 2025, weeks before the injury, and averaged 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.3 steals in 50 games that season. He shot 47.3% from the field and 40.1% from 3-point range in 36.1 minutes a night. Irving said Friday he has no restrictions for camp.
Before the injury, Irving recalled, he was obsessively focused on the craft of basketball and was playing the majority of minutes. He also picked up books this past year that challenge him.
Being home more often changed things with his kids, Irving explained, because they care far more about him being there than about his job. He was also able to travel between Dallas and Los Angeles for school events.
“Being present in the house more often, it does wonders when you’re raising kids,” Irving said. “I love this job, don’t get me wrong, but when you’re raising children, they don’t know anything about your job, really. They don’t really care. They just want you to be there, hug them, love on them, and I think that was a great step in the right direction.”
“And also, my daughter, being able to travel back and forth between here and LA, be there for back-to-school night, be there for parent-teacher conferences, being accessible to my family,” Irving continued. “My relationships around my family have grown tremendously. My relationships in the workplace are transferring off the court as well. There’s a lot of smart people that I’m around, and I don’t like being the smartest in the room at all. I don’t know everything, so picking up a few books that will challenge the brain and just taking the approach to life as I’m getting older that I’m grateful to be here, grateful to put on an NBA uniform, but there are other things in my life that I could put in perspective while I was off the court.”
“So that’s what I’m most proud of, is being able to bring the tribe close together, talk to some good folk and have a lot of prayers be sent my way,” Irving added. “So I want to say to everybody out there in the world, just thank you for all your prayers. Thank you for your support. Not only for me, but my teammates and all entire franchise. It’s not easy doing this, but it is a privilege to be able to put that ball in the hoop and be able to go at a high level. So me as a human, I’m grateful that I got time away, but now I’m ready again to get on that court.”
Kyrie Irving On The Injury As A Turning Point
Irving turned 34 in March and is entering his 16th season. Dallas went 26-56 without him last season.
The time away pushed Irving to think about who he wants to be as a man, not only as a player. He also took accountability for how the team fell short and described carrying the weight of that on his shoulders.
“I think the summer gave me a lot of time to reflect on that, even this past year,” Irving explained. “Being away from the game of basketball, just to put in perspective for you, my injury was probably the best thing that happened to me. … But it was a lot of weight on my shoulders and it’s no blame to go around, pure accountability of just where we wanted to be as a team. But I think we fell short of our goal, and the last year gave me a lot of time to reflect on where do I want to be as a player, but most importantly where do I want to be as a man.”
“How can people look to me to be a better leader, a better communicator, be more emotional, vulnerable, and also taking the approach of acting like my age finally,” Irving continued. “I’m 34 years old. I’m going on year 16, and been through a lot, been through a lot of ups and downs as a person. But I think me as a competitor out there, you never have to worry about me falling short of leaving my best foot forward out there or putting my teammates first or putting my coaching staff first or the mission that we have as a franchise.”
Patience And A Player-Coach Role
Irving described sitting out last season as a lesson in patience while Dallas leaned on young players like Cooper Flagg. He spent the year on the bench, arriving later than usual on game nights and watching from different vantage points to figure out how to lead from there.
“I really wanted to be on the court, but I still had to learn what patience felt like,” Irving said. “And giving my teammates grace, we had a lot of young guys, including Cooper, that have a world of talent, but need that guidance, need that leadership. And I feel like I tried to fill in that void as much as possible. But now as we sit here and we have our team set, we have our coaching staff set, really confident that we’re gonna be able to do great things. And looking forward to continue to bring the best out of each other. So that player-coach role was fun. I enjoyed it. But I think I’m ready to go out there and kick some butt.”
The Mavericks play the Houston Rockets at The Venetian Arena in Macao on Oct. 9 and Oct. 11. The regular season opens Oct. 21 at Houston, with tip-off at 7:30 p.m. CT.
