No more jaw-dropping, mind-boggling ball handles this season, as Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving has suffered a season-ending injury. The Mavs guard tore his left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during the first quarter of Monday’s loss to the Sacramento Kings. This is a huge setback for the Mavs, considering they already traded Luka Doncic and now no longer have Irving with whom they wanted to pair Anthony Davis. But there’s no denying that aside from the team, this is a major heart-breaking moment for not just Kyrie Irving but his fans. Gilbert Arenas and his crew from the Gil’s Arena podcast are no exception to this.

Appearing on the podcast, Brandon Jennings was immediately reminded of the time when Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant tore his Achilles. Although Bryant continued playing for three more seasons after his ACL tear, he was never quite the same. And the concern lingers around Kyrie Irving’s future. The advice that Jennings has for Kyrie Irving now is to just repair himself and try to get back to being the player he has been. “I just wish the best for him because I know he’s going to come back,” Jennings said.

Let’s not forget that Klay Thompson suffered an ACL injury in 2019 and still won a championship in season 2022, even after missing 2 full seasons. Similarly, Jamal Murray led the Denver Nuggets to their first-ever NBA championship in season 2023 after suffering an ACL injury in 2021. So there’s no reason that Kyrie Irving cannot do exactly the same. And that’s exactly what Gil’s crew desires for Irving. For now, though, they cannot hide their disappointment with the chain of developments. Especially Rashad McCants, who was very clear where his loyalty lay for this season’s championship aspirants.

“It was my team. It was my team locked and loaded. All our guys are down now. Literally, just like turning the tide overnight. You can go right into rebuilding overnight trying to figure out what’s going to happen next year because you can’t put Anthony Davis in that front seat,” McCants said on Gil’s Arena.

As for the man of the show, Gilbert Arenas himself stated out loud that Kyrie Irving’s ACL injury has left him sad. Especially because of the kind of character he has seen on display from Uncle Drew. He recalled the time when Irving had his championship aspirations shattered during his run with the Brooklyn Nets. Despite the heartbreak, Arenas witnessed Kyrie, just days after the loss, playing at USC. “Training, guiding, mentoring the young. So you hate to see someone like this get hurt,” Gil said.

However, this still leaves us with one question: Was it the excessive load on Irving in Luka Doncic’s absence that caused Uncle Drew to suffer the season-ending injury? Well, Mavs coach Jason Kidd has something to say on this:

Jason Kidd denies excessive minutes to be the reason behind Kyrie Irving’s injury

Jason Kidd isn’t buying into the idea that Uncle Drew’s injury was caused by heavy minutes. The Dallas Mavericks coach made it clear—this was a “freak accident,” not the result of Irving’s increased workload.

And sure, the numbers tell a story. In the ten games leading up to the injury, Irving was averaging 39.3 minutes per game, up from 35.9. Since Luka Doncic’s move to the Lakers, no one in the NBA had logged more minutes in that span.

That’s a lot of time on the floor. But does that mean it led to what happened against the Kings on Monday? Kidd says absolutely not.

Speaking before the Mavericks’ game against the Bucks, Kidd shut down any talk of a minutes-related injury. “We are talking about one play. Not several before that,” he said. “We want our stars to play. This league is not designed for resting players.”

Well, there is no denying that Kyrie Irving must have been under immense unwanted pressure ever since Luka Doncic’s departure from the Mavericks. The fans of the team hoped that the duo would one day lead Dallas to another championship. But this season, the team stands without either of the two stars on board.