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Jason Kidd Hopes Mavericks Have Kyrie Irving Back In December
Vivek Jacob is a freelance sports writer with over seven years experience. During this time, he has written for outlets including The Athletic, Yahoo Sports, Sportsnet, CBC, and Complex. Primarily covering the NBA, Vivek also covers tennis, soccer, and cricket.
All posts by Vivek JacobUpdated5 hours ago on November 03, 2025
Jason Kidd is hopeful that Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving can return from his torn ACL as early as December. The initial hope was it would be in January or closer to the All-Star Break.
Irving suffered the injury March 3 and underwent surgery March 26. Even a timeline of around Christmas would be a rather unprecedented return after being sidelined for just nine months.
“We just can’t wait to get Kai back at some point,” Kidd said. “Hopefully it’s in the year ’25, not ’26. But we’ll see what happens.”
Dallas has started 2-4 and is also currently dealing with the absence of Anthony Davis, who is out at least a couple games because of a low-grade left calf strain.
It puts top draft pick Cooper Flagg front and center for the next little while. Flagg has been tasked with an enormous amount of responsibility, tackling primary ball-handling duties in the absence of Irving.
Kidd opened the season with a big starting five of Flagg, Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington, Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively. The results were far from encouraging, so he jumped ship. Max Christie has started the last three games.
Kidd Hoping For Irving Mavericks Return Out Of Desperation?
Through these first couple weeks of the season, the Mavs sport the worst offensive rating (105.4) in the league. They’ve got a top-10 defense but the lack of true playmaking and spacing in the starting five has hurt them.
It’s no wonder Kidd is hoping Irving can get back in the lineup sooner rather than later.
D’Angelo Russell was signed in free agency to potentially be the starting point guard until Irving returned. He has been relegated to a bench role, though his minutes have been trending higher lately. Russell had 31 points, seven rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes on Saturday against the Detroit Pistons.
The Mavs also have to understand Irving’s had knee issues going back to his days in Cleveland, so they should be careful with how they handle his return. It would be unwise to rush him back, given both his injury history and the fact he turns 34 in March.
