And Kyrie Irving just keeps on fighting 

There’s no giving up for Kyrie Irving these days. Why does he keep showing up when no one would blame him for getting a little rest?

As the Dallas Mavericks injury report keeps growing, the latest addition being Maxi Kleber (out with a fractured foot), Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving just keeps playing. Despite suffering from periodic back pain and one must assume other lingering issues, he walks on the court game after game, often with multiple end-of-bench and even two-way players, and gives it his all.

For a team with championship aspirations after a Finals run last season, the bad injury luck this team has experienced is devastating. For hopes, for vibes and for motivation. Many things point to a disappointing season for this group, who, if healthy, can beat any team in the league, and most in seven games.

No one would blame the rest of the players on this roster if they were a little downtrodden. No one would even blink an eye if the veteran and co-star slash leader wanted a day off from carrying the remainder of the roster – in order to try to heal some lingering issues during this stretch until certain players return.

But not Kyrie Irving. He keeps showing up, he keeps putting his best foot forward in an effort to carry this team. He fights through back pain to be there, at times struggling with simple movements and insisting to try to get as healthy as possible as fast as possible so he can play for his guys.

“I couldn’t even put on my socks standing up. I had to sit down every single time. I couldn’t really meditate. I was getting a lot of uncomfortable feeling down in my hamstring and also just down my leg,” he said a couple of weeks ago.

And still, three days after this comment and a short break due to said back injury, his return game against the Oklahoma City Thunder January 18 made Naji Marshall shake his head:

“Amazing. Just Kai being Kai. We still down Luka, just leading us to victory…He just put us on (his) back.”

And while Kyrie Irving keeps playing with both joy and motivation, despite not always having the most efficient games, you have to wonder:

Why does he do it? Why does Kyrie Irving keep showing up for games when he doesn’t need to?

His encouraging attitude, coaching the young guys on the sideline and his leadership on the floor shows a lot about his motivation. Like here, where he keeps encouraging and giving instructions to the end of bench guys on the floor in garbage time during a blowout in the playoffs last season. The Mavs were up 115-70.

And if we take a look at Kyrie Irving’s remarks and comments over time in Dallas, we get a good idea of his frame of mind. Only last week, Irving talked about the importance of staying present through this tough period and not looking ahead to when players return from injury:

“That’s our job, man. If we don’t stay present and if we don’t put our best foot forward, we’re going to get blown out every game. We’ve seen a couple of teams throw in the towel early in the season, but for us, we’re a never-give-up type of team,” he said.

A “never-give-up type of team”.

What we’re seeing here is a leader speaking into the belief system of a team, a narrative that’s been fostered since the beginning of the season, and probably last season too. This narrative that the team tell each other and themselves – and ultimately us – is kept alive by experienced players like Irving, Markieff Morris and coach Jason Kidd – who understand that what you tell yourself matters in the outcome of practice, games and life – and that it affects winning in a real way.

In late December 2024, just days after Luka Doncic went down with the calf strain injury that’s still keeping him off the floor, Irving clearly knew that this narrative had to be pushed both internally and externally to keep spirits up, and told reporters a very similar thing:

“For us, I think our identity is we don’t want to give up.”

This is what’s called a team narrative. From a team dynamics standpoint, a team narrative is an important key to creating a winning group and culture. It’s used to provide a clear and consistent portrayal of a team to both internal and external audiences, helping them get to know you and grow to trust you.

Maverick coach Jason Kidd is a master of using these kinds of psychological tools and he has shown that he knows how to use positive thinking and keep the locker room trusting him through the hardest of times. Kidd is a people manager, who understands the intricate parts of relationships and knows how to use words to help form perception.

And here and there, if you pay attention, we get small snippets into what Kyrie Irving means to this group. In the beginning of December, Mavs center Dereck Lively talked about Kyrie Irving after a game when he struggled:

“He’s still Kyrie. He trusts us to pick him up no matter what night it is cause he’s always going to pick us up. We’re always going to lean on him for guidance, for leadership, and some nights he’s gonna lean on us to pick him up… He’s been doing so much for us, we gotta help him out.”

We may be reaching the core of the question at hand here: Why does Kyrie Irving keep showing up for games when he doesn’t need to?

Like Lively says: “He’s doing so much for us, we gotta help him out.” What seems to be happening in Dallas is that Irving has found a bigger meaning and purpose. As much as he wants to win, there’s more to it for him now, with this group.

Kyrie Irving has spent almost his entirety in Dallas, almost two years now, earning the trust of team and leadership alike. And that shows.

But it goes the other way too, it obligates. As the leader of this group at the moment, Irving wants to show that he will not quit on the team. That he believes. And as far as team dynamics work, if the leader believes, and you feel trust and obligation to him, you will not quit either. And that’s what Irving is doing, when he shows up to all games possible, playing with joy and motivation.

It’s about more than basketball for him now, it’s about people. It has become something bigger than winning or losing for Kyrie Irving.

As Jason Kidd said about him in November:

“What Kai is doing as a leader, both on and off the floor has been very impactful…He’s carrying a heavy load right now … The guys he’s playing with, he’s encouraging them to play, cause he can’t do it by himself… The team is playing at a high level for him…”

And Irving said himself, after last season’s Finals run:

“I think I enjoyed this journey more than any other season, just because of the redemption arc and being able to learn as much as I did about myself and my teammates and the organization and the people that I’m around…”

For Kyrie Irving, basketball has become a way to pay back, a way to lift up, a way to make a difference. Not just to his teammates, to the people around him, or to his friends. When Kyrie Irving speaks, thousands, if not millions, of young people listen. When Kyrie Irving plays, they watch.

And what he says makes a difference to these kids, the not-so-much kids and even the older generation. When he encourages his fans to “stay together” and “be kind” on social media, it inspires the downtrodden, the minorities and the forgotten.

Just a few weeks ago, members of the Native American Community in Dallas Fort Worth were moved to tears as Kyrie Irving took time to hug and talk to each one of them after a late game. “He means everything to us,” they told reporters.

So why does Kyrie Irving keep showing up even though he doesn’t have to?

Because in Dallas, Irving has found his purpose. For him, it’s about more than basketball. It’s about inspiring the next generation to find courage and inspiration.

“Things came together for him here,” as Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki remarked in November. And it’s really that simple.

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