Anthony Edwards admits huge Kyrie Irving mistake came back to bite him

The Dallas Mavericks have only played in two preseason games, and although they've lost both games, excitement couldn't be higher among fans.

Mavs fans at the American Airlines Center got to witness Klay Thompson's debut on Thursday night, and he did not disappoint. Thompson fought through some early nerves and scored 10 points while playing excellent defense.

While Mavs fans are always fired up for a new season, much of this excitement carried over from last year's playoff run. Dallas stormed through the Western Conference in the playoffs and made their first NBA Finals appearance since 2011, and one of the most exciting series in their run to the Finals was their five-game rout of the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals.

While many of the games in that series were close, Dallas had the Timberwolves right where they wanted them as they won the first three games of the series and put Minnesota in a position where they couldn't come back. This series was fiery and definitely started a new rivalry, and the chatter between the two teams started before the series even began.

Edwards regrets trash-talking Irving before playoff matchup

Right after clinching a spot in the Western Conference Finals against Dallas, Anthony Edwards called out Kyrie Irving. He said that he'd be guarding Irving in the Conference Finals, but that take didn't age well for him.

Irving dominated the Timberwolves as he averaged 27.0 points and 4.6 assists per game while shooting 49 percent from the field. He said Edwards' take motivated him, and it sounds like the Timberwolves star wishes he could go back in time and take back what he said to Irving.

On Netflix's new show "Starting 5," it shows Edwards during Game 1 deferring out of his defensive matchup against Irving and asking Jaden McDaniels to guard him because he was tired. The scene then cuts to Edwards in an interview for the show, and he admits that he "should have left Kyrie alone...I wish I could go back and take that back."

There are no takebacks in the NBA, and Irving heard what Edwards said, and took the series over. Edwards' first crack at Irving in the playoffs ended with him missing out on the Finals after being the favorite heading into the series, and the Timberwolves and Mavs will have plenty of great games against each other over the next few years.

Dallas' fourth game of the season is against Minnesota, but the game that everyone will be watching is their game on Christmas Day at the American Airlines Center. Irving will have the chance to get the best of Edwards and the Timberwolves again with all of the country watching, and Minnesota will be hungry for revenge after what happened in the playoffs.

Irving got off to a good start in his first preseason game on Thursday night as he scored 12 points and was getting to his spots with ease, and the Mavs are going to need another great season out of him to make another deep playoff run. Consistently winning in the NBA is no easy task, and Irving and Luka Doncic will be at the helm of whatever Dallas does this season.