Kyrie Irving might be recovering from a torn ACL at the moment, but the humanoid robot he met during a holiday event outside the Dallas Mavericks’ practice facility is recovering from a much more serious injury after coming into contact with him.
As shown in a video shared by the official Mavericks account on X, formerly Twitter, the team met a humanoid robot, which appears to be the Unitree H1, dressed in a Mavs jersey that was showing off some of its fighting moves. Irving was told that he could “try” pushing the robot, and when he approached it, he gave a hearty push that sent the robot crashing into the ground. When the robot slammed into the concrete, the rest of the team laughed while Irving tried to help it up.
“My apologies, I thought I could push him a little harder,” Irving said. “My bad. I pushed him too hard, he fell on his back.” The robot model, Unitree’s first universal humanoid robot, is renowned for its balance, but it met its match in Irving.
During the same event outside the Mavericks facility, Irving met with teammates amid his rehabilitation and gifted them customized golf carts for Christmas. In a video also shared by the Mavericks' social media page, Irving and his teammates were seen enjoying the golf carts, which he told them would be shipped to their homes.
Irving is out for what could be the entirety of the 2025-26 season, but he signed a three-year, $119 million contract with the Mavericks earlier this year. It's unclear when he is expected to return to the court, but in the meantime, he appears to be in high spirits.
