Oct 6, 2025; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) walks on the court during the second half against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Dickie's Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Kyrie Irving calls out NBA personality's take on Mavericks starter

Originally posted on Dallas Mavericks on SI
By Austin Veazey | Last updated Oct 11, 2025 2:00 PM ET

Dallas Mavericks star point guard Kyrie Irving is still recovering from a torn ACL that he suffered in March, and he could miss a good chunk of the season. In preparation for that, the Mavs signed former NBA All-Star D'Angelo Russell to hold down the starting spot until Irving returns.

That has been met with mixed reviews, as Russell is coming off arguably the worst season of his career. He's on a cheap deal, but not everyone is convinced that he'll be good enough to help the Mavs contend, which is what they believe they can do.

One such person is infamous NBA personality Bill Simmons, who gave a truly incredible analogy about Russell on the latest episode of his podcast. “He’s your buddy that comes to visit, and it’s really great when he is only there for one day, and by day six, you’re like, 'Ah, I’m ready for him to leave.' That’s D-Lo."

Simmons isn't wrong either. There's a reason Russell is entering his 11th season, but on his 7th team. The Lakers tried trading him away multiple times over the last few seasons before they were finally able to dump him off to the Brooklyn Nets last year. Russell can be a good player, but he is also very frustrating to watch at times. Relying on him could be a mistake for the Mavs.

Kyrie Irving Calls Out Bill Simmons

Irving wasn't a fan of that take from Simmons, taking to X/Twitter and saying, "Oh Bill, you would never say this to Dlo in person and we both know it."

Oh Bill, you would never say this to Dlo in person and we both know it. https://t.co/Qb0Rj1sxP7 pic.twitter.com/krThotZ5rN
— Kyrie (@KyrieIrving) October 11, 2025

It's a little bit of a weird call-out by Irving, as Simmons isn't even calling Russell a bad player, but Irving is just standing up for his teammate. History has shown that he can't be on one team for too long, especially when he's been traded five times. It'd be different if he were leaving on his own accord in free agency.

Russell signed a two-year deal worth about $12 million, which has a player option on the second year. If everything goes well, he'll only be on the Mavericks for this season, unless they re-sign him to a bigger deal next offseason, which they don't really have the money to do. He's going to have to be a much better shooter than he was last season, but he did show his playmaking instincts in the first preseason game against the OKC Thunder.

This article first appeared on Dallas Mavericks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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