Kyrie Irving and his son, Kaire (Image Source: Dallas Mavericks)
On Wednesday, the Clippers hosted the Mavs for game 5 of the playoff series. Kyrie Irving, playing at a different level since Ramadan, looked locked in to give the Dallas side the lead with his family at the courtside.
Before the game, when all the players were getting through their paces, shooting hoops, cameras spotted Kyrie Irving having a special moment. In a video posted by the Mavericks, Kyrie is seen having a heartwarming moment with his son and wife, Marlene Wilkerson. Irving’s one-and-a-half-year-old son, Kaire, instinctively picked up the ball rolled towards him by his father and then hurled it back to where it came from. The Mavs guard picked up the pass from his son, successfully converted his shot, and then pointed back to his little one and blew kisses.
However, his son was keen to join his father for more as he wobbled towards his dad, only to be sent back to his mother. In October 2022, Kyrie and Marlene welcomed their second child together after having their first one in July 2021. The 32-year-old has another daughter from his previous marriage, 7-year-old Azurie Irving.
With his family around him for support, Kyrie made sure not to disappoint little Kaire as the Mavs took the lead in the series after an emphatic 93-123 win.
Kyrie Irving and Co. Get the Job Done
At the Crypto.com Arena, the Mavs silenced the hostile Los Angeles crowd by putting on a dominant display. Led by Luka Doncic’s 35-point performance, Dallas crushed their adversaries by a margin of 30 points.
Kyrie Irving was relatively silent with his 14 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. After lamenting the lack of support he provided to his Batman, Doncic unleashed a scoring barrage on the Clippers that the veteran could not withstand.
Irving, on the other hand, recorded his lowest FG% in the series so far and that translated to his final points tally, which was 26 less than the previous game.
With the win, the Mavs will now return to Dallas looking to wrap up the series and set a playoff round 2 date with the young guns of the OKC Thunder.