Point guard Kyrie Irving offered a response rooted in patience to a question about whether he would return from his ACL tear in time for the playoffs.

A firm recovery timeline hasn’t been set for the 33-year-old guard, who suffered a torn ACL in his left knee on March 3 and underwent surgery about three weeks later. Players historically take a year or more to recover from ACL tears, although it can vary according to the severity of the injury.

Kyrie Irving has been out of action since March 2025, as he suffered a torn ACL in a game against the Sacramento Kings. The Dallas Mavericks guard was leading the team after their midseason decision to trade Luka Doncic, but went down just a month after the team made that deal.