"Did I get knocked off balance" - Kyrie Irving drops cryptic post amid speculation on heavy minutes causing his season-ending injury

At the time Kyrie Irving went down with a season-ending ACL tear, fans speculated that the nine-time All-Star's increased minutes could have been a contributing factor. This increase in workload came about with the departure of Luka Doncic.

In the wake of the shocking trade that sent Doncic to LA, Irving had averaged 39.3 minutes per game in the 10 games leading up to his injury. For context, the NBA's mpg leaders this season, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges, have averaged 37.8 mpg.

Throughout this season, Irving has averaged 36.1 minutes per game, a figure on par with the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, despite being slightly above his 34.5 mpg career average.

Given that, many fans wondered whether Kyrie Irving's increased load could have contributed to his season-ending ACL tear.

On Saturday, Irving took to his Instagram story, responding to claims that his increased usage may have contributed to the injury. Along with a picture of the moment he was about to jump, showing that he stepped on Jonas Valančiūnas' foot, Irving wrote:

"Too many minutes??? Or did I get knocked off balance?"

Kyrie Irving (@kyrieirving) - Instagram

The post was one of many that Irving shared on his Instagram story on Saturday. However, the post was notably the only one that touched on his season-ending injury.

Mavericks coach Jason Kidd dismisses increased minutes as factor to Kyrie Irving's season-ending injury

When Shams Charania broke the story that Kyrie Irving had suffered a season-ending ACL tear, his follow-up post highlighted Irving's increased usage since Dallas parted ways with Luka Doncic.

Given that, and the number of fans that called attention to Irving's increased usage prior to his season-ending injury, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd was asked about the situation on Wednesday.

While speaking with members of the press, Kidd shot down the notion that increased minutes contributed to Kyrie Irving's injury, going so far as to call them conspiracy theories:

"We're talking about one play. Not many before that. It's a freak accident, that's how it should be reported. We're reporting on conspiracy theories. We want our stars to play. This isn't supposed to be a rest league.

"Kai is our leader. Kai also was playing at a high level; maybe some of the best basketball that he's played in his career. We can't talk from both sides and say our stars don't play enough minutes and guys don't play enough. They rest. But now we're saying they play too much."

In addition to losing Irving, the team is also dealing with injuries to key players such as PJ Washington, Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively II, and of course, Anthony Davis.

In the wake of Irving's season-ending injury, there has been some speculation that Dallas may shut Davis down for the remainder of the year to focus on his recovery. However, so far, nothing has been decided yet.

Currently, Dallas is sitting in 10th place in the Western Conference, 2.5 games ahead of the 11th-placed Phoenix Suns.