Kidd Under Fire! Jason Kidd Blasted for Kyrie Irving Injury Defense, Draws Klay Thompson Comparison

Jason Kidd is adamant the Dallas Mavericks did nothing to cause the injury to Kyrie Irving.

Kyrie Irving suffered a torn ACL in the team’s loss to the Sacramento Kings. It is the latest piece of bad luck to befall the Dallas Mavericks, which has led to some to ask if they are cursed.

Irving was playing 39.7 minutes per game in February, with the Mavericks criticized for not adding another point guard to help him out. Anthony Davis’ injury has also increased the pressure on him.

But amid the fallout, head coach Jason Kidd has come out fighting, describing the injury as ‘unlucky’, despite the anger from fans.

Kidd doubled-down 24 hours later, issuing a fiery response and claiming that it was a ‘conspiracy theory’ to claim the injury was connected to the minutes Kyrie Irving was playing for the team.

Jason Kidd called out

Jason Kidd is entitled to defend his actions, especially if he genuinely feels the way he does. But he has been told he is wrong.

On his latest podcast, Bill Simmons cited the previous instance of Klay Thompson‘s body giving way for the Golden State Warriors in 2019 in the Finals against the Raptors.

Simmons said: “Did you see Kidd’s thing, he took real offense that people thought it was the increased workload that hurt Kyrie’s knee. He is like, ‘it was a fluke injury’.

“It was like the dude took offense. We’ve been following the NBA our whole lives. This is Klay Thompson going down in the 2019 finals because he was playing like crazy minutes and doing some crazy workload and then all of a sudden his leg blew out.

“This is what happens in the league. The more you put on these guys, the more likely it is they’re gonna break down.”

Kidd made the defense that fans want to see the stars play, and the league could not have it both ways, amid the debate over players sitting out, labelling the injury to Irving as a ‘freak accident’.

Thompson later suffered a torn Achilles, a year after his ACL tear, and it is a mini-miracle he is still playing a big role in the NBA.

Mavericks attempting to save season

The direction of travel for the Dallas Mavericks is unclear at this late stage of the season. They are sitting in the 10th seed, and it is possible the Phoenix Suns could overtake them if they can get their act together.

The next five games should provide some indication, all against Western Conference teams, facing the Grizzlies, Suns, Spurs (twice) and Rockets.

There is debate over whether the team should bring back Anthony Davis, or attempt to fall back into the Lottery.

One way or another, a difficult end to the season awaits for a team who saw themselves as title contenders.