Warriors' Draymond Green: Mavs' Kyrie Irving 'The Scorer Everyone Thinks of Kevin Durant'
Kyrie Irving captivated the NBA world again after making a miraculous game-winning shot with his left hand in the Dallas Mavericks' 107-105 win over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday at the American Airlines Center.
With that shot, the conversation of where he fits in NBA history among the most skilled players to ever grace the court has reignited. While some feel he's the most skilled player ever and others believe he's in the discussion, Golden State Warriors forward and four-time NBA champion Draymond Green weighed in with a different perspective on the conversation, comparing him to Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant.
Jun 12, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) brings the ball up the court against Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) during the first quarter in game five of the 2017 NBA Finals at Oracle Arena.
Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
While Green gave his former teammate his flowers for how skilled, he noted how it's even tougher to slow down Irving when he's locked in.
"Kyrie Irving is the scorer that everyone [and] the world thinks of Kevin Durant," Green said on his podcast, the Draymond Green Show. "What I meant by that was there are some things at times that you can do to Kevin to make it a little tougher on him...Kyrie Irving, you can't do anything to make it hard on him. You can't make the game tough for Kyrie."
While some may view Green's comments as a diss toward Durant, especially given how their Warriors tenure ended, it could also be viewed as a more clear-cut example of Irving's greatness. For as great as Durant is rightfully viewed as a scorer, one can argue Irving is even better given that he can do nearly everything the Suns forward can, but as a smaller guard.
Regardless, for as fun as the debate between two all-time great scorers is, there's no way to qualify who is more skilled. We should appreciate both players for their greatness because they're closer to the end of their careers than they are to the beginning, and the odds we'll ever see two players like them ever again are highly unlikely.
