NBA Superstars Shocked By Kyrie Irving Buzzer Beater

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

Note how stunned the eight-time All-Star left his comrades, all of whom rushed him as the attendant American Airlines Center crowd lost its collective mind. Irving helped power his Mavs to a 107-105 victory and improve to a 39-29 record. Dallas is currently the seventh seed in the Western Conference (but would be the sixth seed in the East), tied by record with the eighth-seeded Phoenix Suns.

The Mavericks sit just a few scant percentage points behind the 38-28 Sacramento Kings (.576 as opposed to .574 for Dallas) for the sixth seed in the West. They’re just 3.5 games behind the fourth-seeded LA Clippers (42-25) in a bunched-up conference. If Dallas could pass Kawhi and co. (Leonard is out with thoracic spasms at present), the team would secure homecourt advantage in at least the first round of the playoffs.

Irving seems to have generally stabilized in 2023-24, following a bumpy few seasons with the Brooklyn Nets. That clutch jumper with the playoffs just a month away represents perhaps just the latest evidence that he’s fitting in nicely with Dallas. He’s averaging 25.4 points on a hyper-efficient, borderline 50/40/90 slash line (.490/.415/.907), 5.3 assists, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per bout. The shooting, passing and steals represent the second-best such sums on the team, behind just All-NBA combo guard Luka Doncic, while the rebounds rank fourth (second among guards or wings).

But don’t just take our word for it. A litany of Hall of Famers (and future Hall of Famers) took to The Social Media Platform Formerly Known As Twitter, a.k.a. X, to sing their praises following his latest clutch moment. Milwaukee Bucks All-Star point guard Damian Lillard was effusive, calling Irving “the most skilled” player ever.

Lillard himself is certainly not without skill, and both currently star in a league that boasts almost 80 years of incredibly talented contributors. So this is certainly ample appreciation indeed. Irving’s former Boston Celtics teammate, All-Star small forward/shooting guard Jalen Brunson, loved the moment, too.

Another Celtics legend, Hall of Fame power forward/center Kevin Garnett, offered up a pretty succinct take. Garnett and Irving never shared the floor as colleagues, though they did face off against each other plenty of times, as their careers overlapped between 2011-16. One salivates at how they’d look in tandem.

But the most impressive feedback came from Los Angeles Lakers Hall of Fame point guard Magic Johnson, who left not one but two ebullient posts celebrating the big moment. Johnson, a three-time MVP, five-time champ and 12-time All-Star, not only loved the shot, he apparently now loves the Mavericks’ shot at playing spoiler in the Western Conference. Could the team really defeat the mighty Nuggets in a seven-game series? Time will tell.