NBA Superstars Shocked By Kyrie Irving Buzzer Beater

On Sunday, Dallas Mavericks All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving further cemented his legend with another undeniably clutch bucket. The 6’2″ superstar has long been considered to have some of the best handles of this or any era. He helped his Mavs survive a comeback by the defending champion Denver Nuggets at home with this magical left-handed floater :

Note how stunned the eight-time All-Star was to leave his comrades, who all rushed to him as an attendant. American airlines The crowd in the center has lost its collective spirit. Irving helped his Mavs earn a 107-105 victory and improve their record to 39-29. Dallas is currently the seventh seed in the Western Conference (but would be the sixth seed in the East), tied for record with the eighth-seeded Phoenix Suns.

The Mavericks sit just a few percentage points behind the Sacramento Kings 38-28 (.576 to Dallas’ .574) for the sixth seed in the West. They are just 3.5 games behind the fourth-seeded LA Clippers (42-25) in a conference cluster. If Dallas could get past Kawhi and co. (Leonard is currently out with chest spasms), the team would secure home-field advantage in at least the first round of the playoffs.

Irving appears to have generally stabilized in 2023-24, after a few turbulent seasons with the Brooklyn Nets. This clutch jumper with the playoffs only a month away may represent just the latest proof that he’s a good fit with Dallas. He’s averaging 25.4 points on a hyper-efficient 50/40/90 slash line (.490/.415/.907), 5.3 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals per contest. Shots, assists and steals are the second-best sums on the team, behind All-NBA combo guard Luka Doncic, while rebounds rank fourth (second among guards or wings).

But don’t take our word for it. A litany of Hall of Famers (and future Hall of Famers) have taken to the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, aka X, to sing their praises after his latest clutch moment. Milwaukee Bucks All-Star point guard Damian Lillard was effusive, calling Irving “the most talented player.” Never.

Lillard himself is certainly not without skill, and both currently play in a league that has nearly 80 years of incredibly talented contributors. This is therefore certainly a more than sufficient assessment. Irving’s former Boston Celtics teammate, All-Star small forward/shooting guard Jalen Brunson, also loved the moment.

Another Celtics legend, Hall of Fame forward/center Kevin Garnett, offered a pretty succinct vision. Garnett and Irving have never shared the floor as colleagues, although they have clashed numerous times, with their careers overlapping between 2011 and 2016. We’re salivating to see what they would be like in tandem.

But the most impressive returns came from Los Angeles Lakers Hall of Fame point guard Magic Johnson, who didn’t leave one but two exuberant messages celebrating the big moment. Johnson, a three-time MVP, five-time champion and 12-time All-Star, not only loved the shot, he apparently now loves the Mavericks’ shot to play the role of spoiler in the Western Conference. Could the team really defeat the mighty Nuggets in a seven-game series? Time will tell us.