Mavs superstar Kyrie Irving announced his plan to return to the team’s lineup against the 76ers after being sidelined due to a right thumb sprain.
PHILADELPHIA — Dallas Mavericks superstar Kyrie Irving suffered a right thumb sprain against the Boston Celtics during the team’s 119-110 loss and has been sidelined since. He’s averaged 25.2 points, 5.3 assists, and 5.1 rebounds in 27 appearances and is set to return to the lineup to continue his season.
Irving admitted it’s frustrating to go through another injury that caused him to miss multiple games, with his first being a 12-game injury absence resulting from a teammate landing on his leg. He appreciates having the support of his teammates and the coaching staff as he manages the injury and announced that he will play on Monday against the Philadelphia 76ers. 
“I’m frustrated but doing my best to get through,” Irving said. “I’ve had a lot of support from my teammates and the coaching staff. Just the hardest thing is being injured in this league. Games come by every single day and it doesn’t get easier as you get older. I’m grateful I can be active tonight and give it a go.”
Irving does not plan on having a restriction on his minutes in his return to the Mavs’ lineup. He hopes that Mavs coach Jason Kidd will not have him under one.
“No, I don’t plan on that. Hopefully, J-Kidd doesn’t put me on a minutes restriction, but, no, I don’t plan on that,” Irving said.
While risk always remains of a defender swiping down on his injured hand when attacking the basket or throughout a general basketball sequence, Irving understands the risk involved. Instead of rushing back too soon, he weighed the big picture for a team with major postseason aspirations despite the frustration of sitting out.
“It’s professional sports, and basketball is an art form, but it’s also physical combat,” Irving said. “A lot of grabbing, a lot of holding, a lot of high-intensity games and possessions. You want to be as as healthy as as you can be. It’s the regular season. So you want to be smart and think about the big picture.”
“But for me, again, the frustration, I try not to be too ahead of myself and just wait until my body’s in a good place and just try to put myself in a greater position than I was before I got injured and just work my way back, man,” Irving explained. “Getting injured is just, like, taking three steps back, and you have to work five steps to get forward or work to get five steps. That’s been the focus now. It’s just getting as healthy as possible, giving it a go, and testing it out tonight.”
Irving emphasized how his major love for the game makes it “one of the hardest things” not to be able to play.
“To be honest with you, it’s one of the hardest things to sit on the sidelines,” Irving said. “As a person who loves the game as much as I do, it gets tougher to sit more games. I want to be out there. That’s just where I stand with all of this, man.”
When preparing to return to competition, Irving acknowledged the need to solve for how defenders will play him. However, the clear random nature of sports cannot result in overthinking, considering he did not expect the sequence involving Jayson Tatum would result in him missing multiple games with a sprained thumb. At first, he could not catch the ball for three or four days, complicating his ability to compete, but currently, it’s about pain tolerance as he returns.
