Kyrie Irving: 'My Body Was in Shock' Shooting FTs After Injury; Thought About Kobe
Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving was in physical shock when he approached the charity stripe to attempt two free throws after suffering a torn ACL in March.
A visibly pained Irving was helped off the court in a 122-98 loss to the Sacramento Kings on March 3, only to briefly return.
During a Twitch stream on Sunday, the nine-time All-Star discussed the moment with his fans. At the 2:07:40 mark of a video from the stream, he said he "could just sense that my body was in shock."
"The moment that I got up there and dribbled, I was thinking about thanking God from the outset—right from the start," Irving said. "But I just started thinking about all my predecessors, especially Kobe. You know, at that moment, I could feel the sense of—my season is done.
"I'm hurting. I'm crying. I got millions of people watching me. I got millions of people praying for me. I got millions of people that are involved in this journey with me, so they're feeling the same pain that I'm feeling. They might not feel the physical pain, but they're feeling the pain I'm feeling."
Los Angeles Lakers legend famously shot two free throws after tearing his Achilles in 2013.
Klay Thompson had a similar moment with the Golden State Warriors during the 2019 NBA Finals. He checked back into Game 6 after tearing his ACL in order to attempt foul shots.
In the case of Irving, it was readily apparent he was seriously injured when his left knee buckled and he was unable to put much weight on it. His incredible display of toughness garnered chants of "M-V-P" from fans inside the American Airlines Center.
