Kyrie Irving Earns $1 Million Bonus If Mavericks Get 50 Wins

The Mavericks are 49-30. 

Irving signed a three-year, $126 million contract with the Mavericks last summer. The NBA champion is averaging 25.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.2 assists this season while shooting 49.5% from the field, 40.7% from beyond the arc and 90.5% from the free-throw line. 

“When the ball’s in my hands and I don’t see anybody coming to double, then that’s my time to be aggressive,” Irving said after a recent game. “Teammates kept putting the ball in my hands. I had the matchup tonight, so we’re just taking full advantage of it. I had some easy ones go for me tonight and just continue to feed off good energy, man.”

An NBA executive told Hoops Wire that he believes Irving and Luka Doncic are the best duo in the NBA. Doncic and Irving are averaging a combined 59.5 points per game.

Doncic and Irving have both scored at least 35 points in a game three times this season, the most of any duo in the NBA.

“Luka and Kyrie are the best duo in the NBA,” the exec told Hoops Wire. “Their chemistry on the court is off the charts. They complement each other so well and they genuinely like each other.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Dallas makes a serious run in the playoffs. I don’t see a defense stopping Luka and Kyrie in a seven-game series.”

According to Stein, “genuine fondness” exists between Doncic and Irving. Dallas acquired Irving from the Brooklyn Nets last season. 

“Multiple team sources indicate that there is a genuine fondness between the stars,” Stein wrote. “One recent example shared with The Stein Line: At a 25th birthday party for Dončić in Toronto last month, Irving was the last Maverick to close down the soirée with Luka at night’s end. One more example: Earlier this week, when the Mavericks held an optional practice for low-minute players to get in some extra work on the morning after another road win in San Antonio, both Irving and Dončić unexpectedly attended the session and played in the pickup games. They clearly enjoy each other’s company.”

The Mavericks are in fifth place in the Western Conference standings. They are fifth in the NBA in points per game, 20th in points per game allowed and ninth in net rating.