2017 NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant is making the media rounds and appeared on the Bill Simmons podcast. It was mostly stuff we have heard KD say before but he did mention something interesting when reflecting on the Finals. According to Durant, Kyrie is better than HOF legend Allen Iverson.
During the interview, Simmons mentions Kyrie might be the best inside out offensive point guard he’s ever seen. KD didn’t disagree. KD’s business manager, Rich Kleiman was in the background and you can hear him say something like “What about AI?” KD and Simmons both refuted that and said Irving is better. KD went further and said if you look at the skill sets of both players Kyrie wins out. Better handle, better finisher and better shooter. Plus Kyrie is a legit 6’2″ AI is barely 5’11”.
Can’t say I disagree with KD. Kyrie does have a better handle, is a better shooter and finisher. The thing about AI is that he means so much more to basketball fans, and so much to the culture. Those feelings get transferred onto everything he did on the court (which was legendary and HOF worthy). But if you look objectively at their basketball skills, purely their skills on the court, Kyrie is better. Now, AI did drag a team to the NBA Finals and Kyrie sans Bron hasn’t proven he can do that. But, I still think Kyrie has better skills.
The full pod is below with KD, fast forward to the 34:00 mark to hear the AI/Kyrie discussion.
https://soundcloud.com/the-bill-simmons-podcast/finals-mvp-kevin-durant-ep-225