As Kyrie Irving continues to rehab from a torn ACL that ended his 2024-25 season prematurely, the Dallas Mavericks star is back in the gym doing what he does best.
A video showing Irving draining long-range threes on the court went viral this week.
It’s certainly a good sign that Irving is in the gym and not having any apparent issues with landing on his surgically-repaired knee.
However, it’s hard to know exactly what to take away from this. All he is doing in the video is shooting jumpers, not running around, not making any cuts or any other basketball-related moves.
The biggest indicator of where Irving is in his rehab is how he is moving around. He has provided some encouraging updates, saying last month on a Twitch steam that he’s had “some good days” in the gym but stopped short of providing any specific timeline to play in games:
“I was in the gym, doing a little bit more. I won’t tell you exactly what I was doing because it’s all about incremental growth, but I can share with ya’ll it was some good days in the gym. I’m healing up great. This date today, on the 26th; this will be five months post-surgery.”
ESPN’s Shams Charania has reported there is “optimism” within the Mavs organization that Irving could return by January, though Irving has pushed back on that.
Given how mercurial Irving can be, it’s hard to get any insight into where his mind and body are at in the recovery process. The nine-time All-Star tore his ACL against the Sacramento Kings on March 3.
Historically, NBA players can take between eight to 12 months to fully recover from ACL surgery. A potential January return would be right in the middle of that timeline.
The Mavericks believe Irving will return and play at a high level after signing him to a three-year, $119 million contract in the offseason. He averaged 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game in 50 starts last season.
