NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant joined The Bill Simmons Podcast yesterday to discuss the NBA Finals, and at one point the conversation shifted to Kyrie Irving.
KD had nothing but praise when speaking about the Cavs' all-star point guard, telling Simmons it just makes him happy to watch Kyrie play and that he has never seen anyone like him.
Per Slam,
“I was telling some of my friends after Game 2, I was like, Kyrie, he just makes you happy when you watch him play. You just smile when you watch him play because for somebody to be that skilled, you know he had to work tirelessly at it. The stuff he has in his package is next-level stuff that you can try to teach your kids to do it, but you’ll never be able to do it.
“I’ve never seen somebody block his layup, and he’s 6-2. I’ve never seen one person pin his layup on the glass—not one—because the spin he got on it and he don’t have to look at it. I just got so much respect for him because I know how much work he put in to be that good. I never seen nobody like him.”
Durant could've stopped there but he went on further, going as far as to say that Kyrie Irving is better than Allen Iverson. He immediately added, "we might have to cut that out. I don't want no problems with AI."
At around the 37:00 mark in the podcast, Durant says,
“Kyrie is better than AI to me. I’m going from like skill for skill. His handle is better. We might have to cut that out—I don’t want no problems with AI. Y’all might have to cut that one. I don’t want that to get out. I’m just saying I feel like Kyrie got more skill.”
The comparisons are certainly there, with both guards having an uncanny ability of breaking down/embarrassing defenders off the dribble and being able to finish at the rim amongst the bigs. This Kyrie vs. Iverson comment is definitely going to have people talking.
Let us know what you think and check out the full podcast below.
