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The Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat on Wednesday night, 111-92, reaching their 50th win of the season.
That made Kyrie Irving exactly $1 million richer, as it helped him hit one of his two bonuses for the 2023-24 season. Per multiple reports, Irving needed to play in 58 games and the Mavericks needed to win 50 games for the first bonus to be reached.
Tim MacMahon @espn_macmahon
Kyrie Irving earns a $1 million bonus with the Mavs’ 50th win. He’s been a driving force in Dallas’ success. Mavs are 39-19 with Irving in the lineup, including 24-7 during his streak of 31 straight games played.
He reportedly thanked his teammates after Wednesday’s win:
Brad Townsend @townbrad
“Thank you for my bonus, fellas,” Kyrie Irving said to teammates as he settled on the bench to watch the final seconds of the Mavericks’ win.
“Kyrie, what bonus?” called Mark Cuban, knowing full well that Irving gets a $1 million bonus for Dallas reaching 50 wins.
Irving’s second bonus required 65 games played, a mark he won’t hit with only two games remaining in the season.
“I wanted everything that was structured in my contract incentive-wise to be based on production and that was wins and how many games I’m playing,” Irving told reporters in September regarding the three-year deal he signed worth up to $126 million. “I hear all the noise. So I just wanted to make sure that I had some friendly terms, but also some realistic expectations for myself going into the season, looking to just play as many games as possible.”
NBA on ESPN @ESPNNBA
KYRIE AT THE BUZZER 🚨
Made it look easy 🔥 pic.twitter.com/2SmmtOaT0J
NBA @NBA
Kyrie Irving euros his way past the defense for the finish!
Irving has the last 12 PTS for the Mavs on ESPN 🔥 pic.twitter.com/k1W6rjRG99
Few teams have been hotter than the Mavericks heading into the playoffs. The team has won 16 of its last 18 games, Luka Dončić continues to make an incredibly strong MVP case while nearly averaging a triple-double on the season (33.9 PPG, 9.8 APG, 9.2 RPG) and Irving has seemed to truly jell with his superstar teammate.
The Mavericks have now locked in the No. 5 seed and a first-round matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers.
As for Irving, he’s averaging a cool 25.6 points, 5.2 assists and five rebounds per game, shooting 49.5 percent from the field and 40.7 percent from three. The Mavericks are outscoring opponents by 6.9 points per 100 possessions with Irving on the court, per NBA.com, and are outscored by 0.7 points per 100 possessions when he sits.
He’s clearly found a home in Dallas. And he added a bit more pocket change on Wednesday.
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