Mavericks confirm Kyrie Irving is returning to jersey #11 after short-lived stint with #2

Kyrie Irving will don the No. 11 jersey yet again. The Dallas Mavericks confirmed this via a social media post that showed a video of them embedding Irving's jersey No. 11. He has donned that number in his previous stints with the Boston Celtics from 2017 to 2019 and the Brooklyn Nets from 2019 to 2023.

Irving went with No. 2 upon his Mavericks debut in February this year. He donned that number during his first six years in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He's found more success with the jersey number on a collective front, winning a championship and making three NBA finals appearances.

While playing with No. 11 on his back, Irving has thrived individually. He was the leading player on the Celtics and played as a second option behind Kevin Durant in Brooklyn.

Kyrie Irving has a significant connection with the No. 11 jersey

Kyrie Irving's decision to return to No. 11 could be due to several factors. The All-Star guard has deep connections with that figure. During a regular season game between the Nets and Hornets last season, a sideline reporter revealed an extensive reason behind this, saying:

"He was born at 1:11, his dad wore No. 11 when he played college ball at Boston University, Kyrie Irving is exactly 11 letters long. Even the letter K is the 11th letter of the alphabet. And after playing a total of 11 games at Duke due to injury, he was drafted pick one of round one in 2011."

The reporter revealed another interesting fact centered around a career achievement, which came much later in his career.

"(Kyrie) even scored his 11,000th point on the 11th of March." said the reporter.

Irving's streetball team is called A11Even too. In his social media bios, he calls himself the 'A11Even Triber Founder.'

Kyrie Irving will hope his jersey number changes turn his fortunes around collectively with the Mavs. The short stint as No. 2 didn't go as planned. Dallas went into a freefall after acquiring Irving. They went from looking like a lock to finishing as a top-six seed to out of the play-in tournament running.

Dallas finished with a 38-44 record in the Western Conference. They have built their roster around Irving and Luka Doncic, bringing in defensive reinforcements and more perimeter shooters. The depth is better, but only time will tell if it's good enough for them to finish as a top-six team again.