Kidd: Increased playing time had nothing to do with Irving’s injury

MILWAUKEE – Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd took exception to any perceived connections that the reason guard Kyrie Irving tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during Monday’s game against Sacramento is because Kidd had been playing him too many minutes lately.

“The truth to that question is so far false or being misrepresented in a sense of the load didn’t have anything to do with the injury,” Kidd said prior to Wednesday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks. “We’re talking about one play. Not many plays before that.

“And (Irving) steps on (Jonas) Valanciunas’ foot. It’s a freak accident. That’s how it should be reported. It’s not reported right. It’s reported on a conspiracy theory.”

Shortly after the Mavs traded Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 2, Irving played 40 or more minutes in five consecutive games. He also played 38 or more minutes in the three games prior to suffering the season-ending injury against the Kings.

Kidd said critics are talking out of both sides of their mouth in that they want the star player to play, but also want them to get adequate rest.

“We want our stars to play as many minutes,” Kidd said. “This isn’t supposed to be a rest league. Kai is our leader. Kai was playing minutes. He also was playing at a high level. Maybe some of the best basketball that he was playing in his career, and it’s alright to play 40 minutes.

“We can’t talk from both sides and say that our stars don’t play enough minutes or guys don’t play enough. And now we’re saying that they’re playing too much. So that means the media is taking this the wrong way.”

Kidd just don’t like the way the media is framing Irving’s injury.

“We had (Jaden Hardy and Irving) in that game have injuries,” he said. “Both sprained ankles. Both stepping on someone’s foot. So, let’s just report it as facts. Not our opinions.

“Did (Irving) complain about the minutes? No. Did the fans complain about the minutes? No. They pay to come see him play. The injury is what happened. The facts of him stepping on Valanciunas’ foot is a freak accident that happens in sports. The report is wrong, right?”

Irving got injured against the Kings before the first quarter expired on a play where he was fouled. He stayed in the game and converted his two free throws, then was helped to the locker room.

“We’re reporting that we’re running someone into the ground,” Kidd said. “That’s not true. That’s his job is to play, and he loves to play. It’s alright to play 40 minutes at the age of 32 in a month’s span. This isn’t the whole season.

“I think sometimes we’re taking things a little bit too far, or we’re not really telling the truth because we want the (social media) likes or the hearts. Or we want somebody to put us up on this platform, but we’re not telling the whole truth.”

And the whole truth is what Kidd set out to tell on Wednesday.

“(Irving’s injury) was a freak accident,” Kidd said. “It happened early in the game. We should be promoting our players to play more minutes and play more games, but are we? That’s the media’s job.

“To make something that is not true for most people to believe. . .and it’s wrong. It’s bad reporting. I disagree with whoever said it or whoever is trying to paint that picture that we’re running people into the ground. I think it’s wrong.”

BRIEFLY: Mavs forward Klay Thompson can truly relate to the torn anterior cruciate ligament guard Kyrie Irving suffered in his left knee during Monday’s game against the Sacramento Kings. That’s because Thompson tore the ACL in his left knee during Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals against Toronto when he was playing for the Golden State Warriors. “I haven’t been able to talk to (Irving) much, but that was really a gut punch,” Thompson said. “Not just for Dallas and the Mavericks, but for basketball fans around the globe. Kyrie has been our rock this year. We got to rally around him and we got to play hard for him. That one hurt, though. Seeing him go down like that really sucks. I know he’s going to come back stronger, but just in the moment it just really sucks for everybody.” . . . Center Kai Jones was playing in his first game with the Mavs on Monday against Sacramento, and at some point in the game he suffered a strained left quad that kept him out of Wednesday’s game against Milwaukee. Kidd said Jones was injured: “I think when he slipped at the end of the game at the top of the key closing out. I think that’s when he got hurt. It could have been somewhere else in the game. I think he played great.” Jones scored 21 points on 9-of-10 shots and also grabbed eight rebounds against the Kings.

X: @DwainPrice