‘Shades of Kobe’ – Distraught Kyrie Irving makes free throws with tears streaming down face after suffering injury as Luka Doncic reacts

Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks had an extremely tough night on Monday.

Not only did the Mavs fall 122-98 to the Sacramento Kings, superstar guard Kyrie suffered a left knee sprain that has fans fearing the worst for the rest of the season.

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The injury occurred in the first quarter of the contest when Irving drove to the basket and was fouled by DeMar DeRozan.

Irving landed awkwardly on Kings’ center Jonas Valanciunas’ foot and immediately went down clutching his knee.

The mercurial star stayed on the hardwood for several minutes before being helped to his feet by a Mavs staff member and teammate Anthony Davis, who was injured on the Dallas bench.

Irving was in visible pain and could barely put any weight on his left leg.

However, he showed immense grit to step up to the free throw line and take both of his shots.

Cameras zoomed in on the 2016 NBA champion’s face as tears streamed down the side of his cheeks.

Irving also took a deep inhale and appeared to mouth the words, “than you, God,” before making both shots. He was eventually helped back to the locker room and did not return for the rest of the game.

“A moment of pure determination for Kyrie Irving,” the NBA wrote on X alongside footage of the incident.

“After suffering an injury, Kyrie was helped to the line to take his free throws before exiting the game. He made both.”

The tears that rolled down his Kyrie’s face seemingly weren’t just from the pain.

They were more from the realization that his — and the Mavs’ — season is likely over.

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X@NBA

X@NBA

Fans reacted to the incident online, saying how it reminded them of Kobe Bryant — a hero and mentor to Irving — who famously shot two free throws after tearing his Achilles.

“Shades of Kobe,” one fan posted.

“Kyrie wears his passion on his sleeve—those free throws meant everything,” another added.

“Such determination,” a fourth posted.

Former Mavs teammate Luka Doncic caught wind of Kyrie’s injury and posted his reaction online.

He posted two emojis holding back tears and two prayer emojis over a screenshot of Irving’s free throw attempts.

Instagram@lukadoncic

Things have gone from bad to worse for the Mavericks since trading away franchise face Doncic to the Lakers last month.

Fan discontent is at an all time high, particularly towards GM Nico Harrison — the man responsible for trading away Doncic — and that was before the announcement that season tickets will go up by an average of 8.61 percent next year.

Dallas has also been decimated by injuries with Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford, Dwight Powell, PJ Washington, Jaden Hardy, and Dante Exum all going down in recent weeks.

The extent of Irving’s injury isn’t yet known but there’s a real fear it could be season-ending.

Head coach Jason Kidd called it ‘unlucky’ in his post-game press conference.

“Just unlucky. Hope that he’s healthy and it’s not serious but just to have this season, guys are trying to hold it together, get other guys back, and it just seems every time we’re getting close to getting someone back, someone goes down,” Kidd said.

“Tonight both Hardy and Kai go down so we’re running out of bodies here but guys keep fighting.”

The Mavs’ playoff chances were already down to 45 percent after trading away Doncic.

After Kyrie’s injury, they’re at 18 percent.

The Mavs made the Finals last year but injuries and bad front office decisions appear to have derailed their championship aspirations.

The Mavericks are currently sitting 12th in the Western Conference with a 32-30 record, and now face an almighty battle just to make the postseason.