Cameras Caught Kyrie Irving’s Sweet Gesture to Mavericks Teammates After Finals Loss

Kristen Wong | Jun 18, 2024

Screengrab on Twitter/ @SportsCenter

Dallas Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving had himself a night to forget on Monday after a crushing 106-88 loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

Still, the Mavs star showed off his leadership qualities following the final whistle as he shepherded his teammates to the locker room at the end of the night. In front of jeering Celtics fans at TD Garden, Irving waited before entering the tunnel to make sure all his Mavs teammates and coaches safely got through first, dapping and embracing some players on the way.

Kyrie waited for every Mavs' player 🥹

Team player until the very end 💙 pic.twitter.com/dLdAHMAT6K

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 18, 2024

Irving finished Game 5 with 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting to close out what has been a less-than-stellar Finals performance on the road. The eight-time All-Star shot 18-of-53 through three games in Boston and could only watch as his former team lifted the Larry O’Brien Trophy for the 18th time in Celtics franchise history.

Nonetheless, Irving expressed his hope for the future after Dallas reached the Finals for the first time since Dirk Nowitzki led the team to a 2011 NBA championship.

“That’s a positive note we can take from this series, just how far we made it and how proud I am of the guys,” Irving said. “I see an opportunity for us to really build our future in a positive manner where [the Finals] is almost like a regular thing for us.”