Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving will replace teammate Anthony Davis at the 2025 NBA All-Star Game.
Commissioner Adam Silver named Irving as an injury replacement after Davis was ruled out due to a groin injury. Davis is expected to miss several weeks with the injury.
In the midst of a stellar debut for the Mavs, Davis hurt himself on a non-contact play as he rotated over defensively. The superstar big man had 26 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists, and three blocks until the injury.
Irving will be making his ninth All-Star appearance. He is averaging 24.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.3 steals over 42 games.
Davis had been selected to ‘Team Shaq’ in the new format featuring three All-Star teams. He was slated to be alongside LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Damian Lillard, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown. Irving will now join that team.
Earlier, Silver also named Trae Young as an injury replacement for Giannis Antetokounmpo in the East.
Good News, Bad News For Mavs Fans
There is natural cause for celebration with Irving making the All-Star team for Mavs fans.
How much they care to celebrate while still recovering from the trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers remains to be seen.
Injury was added to insult when Davis got hurt, surely testing the patience of Mavs fans to the extreme.
Dallas is currently eight in the West with 28-25 record but a fairly daunting schedule awaits all the way through mid-March. Depending on how long Davis is out, this could be a sink or swim moment for the franchise’s season. That will be the last thing Nico Harrison and ownership would have wanted to think after making the trade for Davis.
Alas, this is the risk in trading for someone who has a history of injuries and turns 32 in a month.
Sabonis, Booker Snubbed?
Among those who will still feel aggrieved over having not been picked will be Domantas Sabonis and Devin Booker.
Sabonis is having a tremendous season with 20.5 points, 14.3 rebounds, and 6.2 assists. He leads the league in both rebounding and double-doubles. He is also tied for third in triple-doubles. Only Nikola Jokic (24) and LeBron James (10) have more.
The Kings are ninth in the West with a 26-26 record.
Booker’s numbers are great at 26.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, 6.6 assists, and 1.1 steals. His shooting splits are a bit down at just 34.2 percent from three and 45.3 percent from the floor overall. The overall field goal percentage is his lowest since the 2017-18 season, his third in the NBA.
What likely counted even more against Booker is the fact that Kevin Durant already made the team. Selecting two All-Stars from a .500 team sitting 10th in the West would have been tough.
