Kyrie Irving is healthy but calf injury during recovery proves Mavericks' patience right

The Dallas Mavericks were ultra-patient with their Kyrie Irving return plan, and a newly revealed injury that he suffered during the rehab process vindicates this patience. Kyrie tore his ACL in March of 2025 and hasn't played in an NBA game since. Despite reports stating that Irving would be healthy enough to return near the end of last season, the Mavericks took the safe approach and shut him down.

Dallas had nothing to play for as the season wound down, and they ultimately ended up tanking some games near the end of it to prioritize lottery positioning. Bringing back Irving when the team wasn't pushing for the playoffs would've put him at unnecessary risk of suffering another injury, and thankfully for the Mavericks, he's fully healthy ahead of the 2026-27 season.

Irving is set to play in one of Dallas' two preseason games in Macao, China, against the Houston Rockets, and MFFLs can't wait to see him on the court once again. He is one of the most beloved Mavericks of this era, and he is poised to give the team's offense a major boost after they ranked 27th in the NBA last season.

Kyrie Irving suffered a calf strain in December while rehabbing his ACL

With less than two weeks remaining until the regular season begins, Dallas clearly made the right decision to slow-play Irving's comeback.

During the Mavericks' current trip to Macao, Irving told reporters that he suffered a calf strain in December of 2025 that set his recovery back by eight weeks.

No one reported this when it happened, and this injury makes Dallas' decision to hold off on bringing him back make even more sense. Calf strains are no joke, and Kyrie having to rehab a calf strain in the middle of his ACL recovery is far from ideal.

Why the Mavericks were smart not to rush Irving back

The Mavs would've had to worry about his ACL, as well as his calf, once he made his return (if he had returned last season), and any injury that Irving suffered would've made Dallas letting him return look like malpractice. Kyrie loves being on the court as much as anyone, but the Mavericks would've been playing with fire if they brought him back.

Instead, they let him rehab both injuries at his own pace. Shutting him down for the 2025-26 season in February allowed him to set his sights on a return at the beginning of the 2026-27 season, giving him plenty of time to get his mind and body right before he played his first NBA game since March 5, 2025.

This freshly-discovered calf strain changes the optics of Dallas' decision to shut him down last season, as they clearly made the right choice. Irving remains one of the team's franchise players entering 15th season, and the Mavericks needed to do whatever they could to ensure that he was ready for the start of this season. Shutting him down at the end of the last season helped them accomplish that.

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