Paul Pierce drops 'sad' admission after Mavericks' Kyrie Irving ACL tear

03/04/2025 06:40 PM

The Dallas Mavericks received brutal news on Monday after it was announced that superstar point guard Kyrie Irving suffered an ACL tear in the 122-98 loss to the Sacramento Kings. Irving is ruled out for the remainder of the season.

To make matters worse, there isn’t a timeline for Anthony Davis’s return, as the star power forward hasn’t played since his debut on February 8. During a segment on “Speak” on Fox Sports 1, former Boston Celtics star Paul Pierce weighed in on the mess going on in Dallas.

Pierce claimed that he is “extremely sad for Kyrie” while also acknowledging Davis’s injury, as well as the controversial Luka Doncic trade. The former NBA champion even pointed out how the Mavericks’ position in the Western Conference doesn’t guarantee they’ll make the playoffs either.

“When you thought it couldn’t get any worse, it just got worse… [The Mavs] might not even make the playoffs… I'm extremely sad for Kyrie.”

"When you thought it couldn’t get any worse, it just got worse… [The Mavs] might not even make the playoffs… I'm extremely sad for Kyrie.”

Paul Pierce on Kyrie Irving’s injury.

(via @SpeakOnFS1)pic.twitter.com/f2IE5MyuTI

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 4, 2025

The Mavericks own a 32-30 record and have a game on Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks. Dallas is currently in 10th place in the Western Conference, which puts them in the mix for the play-in tournament. However, with Irving sidelined, Davis’s return unclear, and the roster looking rather bleak, Pierce doesn’t appear to have high hopes for the franchise in the final stretch of the regular season.

Before suffering the ACL tear, Irving was having another spectacular season. Through 50 games played, the soon-to-be 33-year-old point guard averaged 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game while shooting 47.3% from the field and 40.1% from behind the three-point line.

Irving sustained the injury while driving toward the basket and appeared to collide knees with Kings center Jonas Valanciunas. The Mavericks’ star was fouled on the play and was helped to the free-throw line where he sunk both attempts. After that, Irving was helped off the court, where he was eventually given an ACL tear diagnosis.

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