Kyrie Irving has spent much of his 2025-26 NBA season on the mend. While at it, the Dallas Mavericks guard had an indirect mention for Bam Adebayo’s historic 83-point night earlier this month. Irving came across an old post of his 60-point explosion against the Orlando Magic on March 15, 2022.
Kyrie Irving Comments on 60-Point Game Following Bam Adebayo’s Historic Night
The guard took to X (formerly Twitter) with a lighthearted take on the performance. Responding to a throwback post on X, Irving wrote, “Shoulda went for 85! lol,” referring to setting a record, overshadowing Kobe Bryant’s 81 points and now Adebayo’s 83.
Irving’s 60 points during his time with the Brooklyn Nets are the highest single-game scoring effort of his career. He shares the record with some of the best sharpshooters in the league, including Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Damian Lillard, De’Aaron Fox, Luka Dončić, and Jayson Tatum.
Irving’s effort included six rebounds, four assists, and one steal as the Nets propped up a 150-108 win on the road. The Mavericks are without their superstar guard this season as he continues to recover from a torn ACL suffered in March 2025.
While there were speculations that he would return at some point during this season, the team’s run ultimately saw him opt to take the remainder of the season off to focus on recovery. In his 128 games with the Mavericks, Irving has averaged 25.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 5.1 assists.
His best run with the franchise came in 2024 when the Mavericks made the NBA Finals. However, they were outplayed by the Boston Celtics. As for Adebayo, the Miami Heat center made history with 83 points to become the second player in the NBA to have the most points in a single game.
Adebayo went 20-43 from the field and 36-43 from the free-throw line against the Washington Wizards. While Adebayo’s feat saw him enter the record books, the performance also copped criticism from analysts and fans, to which the big man responded soon after.
“If you are mad, I don’t care,” he said, according to The Athletic. “Because a lot of people, they’re upset because if they did play, they never had a chance to get that close to chasing greatness.”
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“And if you get that close to chasing greatness, that’s the point of chasing it, so you can surpass it. … If you’ve been in the backyard, and you and a couple of your homies are playing 21, and you got 19, you’re not gonna get an easy look off.”
Irving’s absence, along with a midseason rebuild featuring the blockbuster Anthony Davis trade, sees the Mavericks miss the playoffs for a second consecutive season. Only time will tell how they fare as the side looks to build around Irving and rookie sensation Cooper Flagg’s sophomore year next season.
