There’s no questioning Kyrie Irving’s unique talents.
Last week I played Johnnie Cochran and wrote a post trying to defend Carmelo Anthony from some criticism, so I’m going to try to do the same now with Kyrie Irving.
There are a few charges that I will not defend Mr. Irving on — mostly his defense and his durability. Those are genuine concerns for him going forward.
And while I respect players’ autonomy and a right to forge their own paths (whether that’s Kevin Durant joining a super team or Kyrie Irving leaving a super team), I don’t like the idea that players can request trades with two years left on their contracts. Even if Kyrie Irving signed that extension pre-LeBron, he should honor that commitment. If superstars can demand trades whenever they want (and claim that they’re only willing to go to a handful of teams), that really hampers their franchise in an unfair way, a la Paul George, and Indiana.
All that said, I would like to defend Kyrie Irving on a few other charges.
(1) He’s not a true point guard
Kyrie Irving is more of a scorer than a distributor. After all, he pumped in 25.2 points per game versus only 5.8 assists last year. Clearly, he looked for his own shot more than getting his teammates involved.
But here’s the thing: that is what a modern lead guard does these days. Kyrie Irving’s ratio of assists / per point (0.23) this season is on par with several other high profile point guards like Damian Lillard (0.22), Kemba Walker (0.24), and Isaiah Thomas (0.20).
Moreover, you can argue that Kyrie Irving’s assist totals have been limited by the presence of LeBron James, who acts as a lead playmaker for the team. Before LeBron showed up, Kyrie Irving had slowly and steadily improved his playmaking: going from 5.4 assists as a rookie to 5.9 to 6.1 as a third-year player. That third-year ratio (20.8 points per game and 6.1 assists) was Irving’s “best” from a playmaking / scoring standpoint and may have continued to improve from there.
However, once LeBron James came onto the team, Irving’s role would have to shift. You’re simply not going to have two players on the same team average 7+ assists per game — there’s not enough possessions and not enough balls to do that. This year, LeBron played distributor more than ever, racking up a career high 8.7 assists per game. Given that, Kyrie Irving had to play more of a “finisher” and scoring role. Without LeBron, Kyrie Irving would be more of a playmaker, and probably rack up 1-2 more assists per game (at least), aided by some transition baskets alone.
All in all, I don’t see his offensive game / style of play as a big liability, any more than someone like Isaiah Thomas’.
(2) He couldn’t make the playoffs without LeBron
On face value, that’s true. In the three years that Kyrie Irving led the Cavaliers, they never made the playoffs. But before we write off his ability to win, let’s consider the context of that.
Kyrie Irving joined a trainwreck of a Cleveland team that had gone 19-63 the year before he arrived. Throughout Irving’s first three years with the team, he was playing with the Keystone Cops. The franchise, at the time, didn’t have their act together whatsoever. Their head coach was the questionable Byron Scott. Their big acquisitions were wild stabs that didn’t really work out: a trade for a broken-down Andrew Bynum. A #1 pick named Anthony Bennett. Irving’s best teammate at the time was a first and second-year Dion Waiters, who wasn’t shy about jacking up shots himself. Are we surprised that team didn’t make the playoffs, when their two best players were 20 year olds?
Despite all that, the team started to turn it around. They hired a competent coach in Mike Brown, who led them to a 33-49 record in Irving’s third year, good for 10th place in the East, five games out of the playoffs. If that momentum and improvement had continued, the team may have made the playoffs in another year or two.
We’ll never know because LeBron James arrived and changed the whole narrative on the team (for the better, obviously.) But to say that Kyrie Irving never would have made the playoffs without him is unfair. We’re judging Irving based on his play on a bad team at the age of 22. Other young stars like Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, and even Anthony Davis haven’t become playoff staples yet at that young age.
If Kyrie Irving had been left to his own devices as he matured and improved, I imagine he’d have made the playoffs and been a “winning” player. Now, “winning” may have meant 45 wins and a 6th seed, but that’s something.
Final thoughts
All in all, I hope Kyrie Irving and LeBron James put their differences aside and give it one last shot to challenge the Warriors. Even as lopsided as that battle may be, it’s the closest we’ll get to an actually competitive series.
But if Kyrie Irving leaves, I’d wish him the best in proving that perception wrong. I don’t know if he’s a legitimate top 5 player, or even a top 10 player, but the idea that he’s a flawed guard who will never lead a winning team isn’t fair.
