Mavericks’ Irving Recovering from Broken Hand – Shockingly, the Dallas Mavericks announced Tuesday their star point guard Kyrie Irving has undergone surgery after fracturing his left hand while going through a training session earlier this month.
A time table for his recovery has not been made released to the public at this time. However, ESPN’s NBA reporter Tim MacMahon reported that “sources expressed optimism that he would recover in time to participate in training camp in about 2 1/2 months.”
Irving, 32 years-of-age, helped lead the Mavericks, along with Luka Doncic, to the NBA Finals this past season, though the team was defeated in five games by the Boston Celtics, who earned their 18th championship as a franchise.
Irving played well overall in the postseason, averaging 22.1 points, 5.1 assists and a steal in 22 games while shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 39 percent from downtown. The eight-time All-Star was equally effective during the regular season, putting up 25.6 points, 5.2 assists, five rebounds and 1.3 steals per contest.
Embed from Getty ImagesHe has settled into his role as Robin in ‘Big D’, pairing with Doncic to give the Mavericks one of the most potent and talented backcourts in the sport.
The good news for the Mavericks is that Irving has about three months to heal before the regular season starts in late October. They can also breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the injury is to Irving’s non-shooting hand.
Dallas has not gotten comfortable with just making it to the Finals, adding sharpshooter Klay Thompson and Naji Marshall, although the team lost one of their best defenders in Derrick Jones Jr. to the Los Angeles Clippers. Thompson’s elite perimeter shooting and championship pedigree should make him an incredible third option and a nice fit behind Doncic and Irving.
The Western Conference will be stacked as usual, with teams such as the Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves, just to name a few, posing a significant threat to the Mavericks’ title hopes. But a healthy Irving next to Doncic makes the Mavericks a contender no matter the opponent.
Also…
Lakers Adding Harding to Redick’s Staff – The Duke experience is in full effect. The Los Angeles Lakers have hired Lindsey Harding as an assistant coach for JJ Redick’s staff, according to senior NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski. Harding will be breaking down barriers, being the first woman to coach for the Lakers and join Jenny Boucek (Pacers), Brittni Donaldson (Hawks) and Sonia Raman (Grizzlies) as women actively on NBA coaching staffs.
Harding, 40 years old, was named G League Coach of the Year in 2023 for her work with the Stockton Kings, the Sacramento Kings’ affiliate. In her inaugural season at the helm, Harding guided the Kings to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and an appearance in the semifinals of the G League playoffs.
After a devastating first-round exit last season at the hands of the Denver Nuggets, the Lakers fired Darvin Ham, who is now with the Milwaukee Bucks as an assistant, and hired Redick as their new head coach in June despite the fact that he had no previous coaching experience. In the time since, he has started to bolster his staff with a surplus of veterans, including long-time NBA head coaches Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks. He also brought back Greg St. Jean, who was previously an assistant with the Lakers under Frank Vogel.
Redick and Harding have a built-in comradery from their days at Duke as players at the same time from 2002-06, and reconnected in Philadelphia a decade later when Redick played for the 76ers and Harding worked as a player development coach for the organization.
During her playing days, Harding was named Naismith Player of the Year in 2007 before becoming the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 WNBA Draft by the Phoenix Mercury. She spent nine seasons in the league with six teams, and also played overseas in a number of countries, most notably Turkey.
After retiring in 2017, Harding was hired by the Sixers as a scout, becoming the first black woman to hold that job on a full-time basis in the NBA, then later became a player development coach. In 2019, she was hired by the Kings as an assistant coach and had been with the organization ever since.
In addition to her NBA and G League work, for a short time she was the head coach of South Sudan’s women’s national team and is currently the head coach of Mexico’s women’s national team.
Earlier this year, Harding interviewed for the Charlotte Hornets’ head coaching vacancy, but the job ultimately went to Charles Lee.
