Kyrie Irving's odds of earning massive honor skyrocket after Luka Doncic's injury

The Dallas Mavericks are doing their best to start off strong without Luka Doncic.

Mavs fans were not gifted well on Christmas Day when they saw Doncic go down with a left calf strain, and he did not return to the contest. This was the worst possible news for Mavs fans considering that he had just returned from a wrist sprain, and now Dallas has to figure out the best way to weather the storm without Doncic in the lineup.

Phoenix was Dallas's first test to see what they could do without Doncic. They went up against Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal with the Mavs defense denying Beal of doing anything valuable during the contest. It was right out of the opening tip when Kyrie Irving showed his veteran leadership to eventually lead the team to victory.

Dallas then battled the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night and dropped to 7-3 without Doncic. Irving once again showcased his elite scoring ability as he finished with 46 points.

Irving's All-NBA case grows stronger with Doncic's absence

These type of performances will likely continue with Doncic out of the lineup, and he continues to show that has been one of the best at his position this season.

He's averaging 24.6 points a game and shooting almost 50 percent from the field and an unworldly 44.5 percent from three.

He definitely deserves to be in the All-Star game this season, but he has a true shot to take home some more valuable hardware at the end of the year.

Doncic has a streak of making the All-NBA First Team for five seasons in a row. That streak looks like it will end this season following his calf injury.

This means that Irving will have one less guy to beat out for getting a spot on an All-NBA team. Irving last made an All-NBA Third Team during his stint with the Brooklyn Nets back in 2021. This was whenever Irving was teamed up with Durant and James Harden.

This might be the best version of Irving that we've seen since then when he also got selected to the prestigious 50-40-90 club, where a player hits over 50 percent of field goals, 40 percent or more from beyond the arc, and 90 percent or better on free throws.

Irving also has said recently that he doesn't feel like he has to put the team on his back, comparing his time now with his time in Cleveland when LeBron James didn't play. Following the suspension of Naji Marshall, he might just have to carry the team on his back, but if need be, he'll be ready.

There's no doubt that January will be a tough stretch for the Dallas Mavericks. With a franchise player and superstar down, this is Irving's moment to show he belongs on an All-NBA team.

Irving's performance against Minnesota early in the season will have to be the type of Irving we might need to see in some games this season, as the Mavericks are gearing up for an NBA Finals rematch against Boston later this season. If he's able to put up A+ performances in the month of January, we could end up seeing him land on an All-NBA team.