Dallas Mavs Injury Update: Kyrie Irving Wearing Protective Boot, Using Crutches

Although the Dallas Mavericks dodged a bullet with Kyrie Irving only having a heel contusion, the star guard could still miss significant time.

Dalton Trigg | Dec 12, 2023

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Dallas Mavericks

When the Dallas Mavericks found out that Kyrie Irving's injury was a heel contusion over the weekend, they were relieved. Given how bad the injury looked when Mavs center Dwight Powell fell on Irving's foot during Dallas' road win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday, everyone was just happy that it didn't end up being a season-ending injury.

However, that doesn't mean Irving will be ready to go anytime soon. According to Mavs head coach Jason Kidd, Irving is wearing a protective boot on his foot and is having to use crutches. There is currently no timetable for his return.

USATSI_22065977 — Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

The average time missed for a heel contusion is around two games, according to InStreetClothes.com's Jeff Stotts, but this particular injury could end up taking longer considering Irving's age (31) and the pain he was initially experiencing.

"The term 'heel contusion' is a bit vague and could be a myriad of things," Stotts told DallasBasketball.com. "The fact that we have heard [Kyrie] is in 'significant pain' makes me think it will be longer than the average time associated with general heel contusions (around two games). Worst case scenario would be a significant bone injury, but that doesn’t seem to be happening here."

Although Irving is a huge loss – he's averaging 23.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.2 assists while shooting 47.1 percent from the field and 38.4 percent from deep – the Mavs have posted a 4-1 record this season when he doesn't suit up.

Mavs Injury Report on Luka, Kyrie; Lakers’ LeBron, AD Questionable

Pulling off a fifth win in six games without Irving will be a lot tougher on Tuesday night, though, as the shorthanded Mavs have to take on LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the freshly-minted NBA In-Season Tournament champion Los Angeles Lakers on a second night of a back-to-back at American Airlines Center.

Luka Doncic has firmly placed himself into the MVP conversation this season, and we'll see if Tuesday night will be yet another gem to add to his resume or a "scheduled loss" for the Mavs.

Published Dec 12, 2023

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.