Kyrie Irving and James Harden are types of players who, in terms of their legacies, are stuck in an intriguing place. They’re among the best in the league for sure, but are not quite regarded in GOAT conversations. Are they unique? Yes. Influential? Definitely. So, what separates them from others?
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Well, there’s a clear hierarchy of stardom in the NBA. It goes legends and greats, superstars and MVP candidates, All-NBA and All-Star players, impactful starters, and then impactful role players.
Someone like Daniel Theis is the perfect guy to analyze where Irving and Harden stand. The eight-year NBA veteran (2017-2025) came overseas from Germany in 2017, signed by the Boston Celtics. Theis played with Kyrie in one of his few seasons in Beantown. It was then that he got to see firsthand what separated the superstar guard from the rest of the league.
“I think what separates them from the good players in the NBA, or the average players, is really their work ethic,” Theis pointed out on Euro Insiders.
“Like, when you see, I remember my first year with Kyrie. Everyone thinks he’s, obviously, it’s a God-given talent, but all his finishes [are] left, right. He worked on this every day. He stands in the gym by himself doing all these left-hand, top-of-the-backboard finishes every day,” he added.
It’s one aspect of the game that fans don’t get to see. But some of the greatest players of all time didn’t become great overnight. They put in endless hours of work to perfect their craft in the gym and then took their skills to the court.
Guys like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James have all been known for this. That said, it’s not just Kyrie that Theis has gotten to see go the extra mile to be great.
“James Harden, his stepping. He works on it a lot; his move is perfection. People try to take it away, [but] he’s got the counter to it. To his floater that he had in Houston. So, I think that’s a part of it. They adjust to have the one move, a counter, and a second move type,” Theis added.
NBA stars have signature moves. Almost every superstar has one. For Harden, it’s his side step and step-back three-pointers that create lethal separation. For Kyrie, it’s his insane ball handling and layup package.
Few acknowledge the amount of work it takes to perfect these signature skills. It’s almost as though we believe some players were just born with these abilities. And while some were, that’s simply not the case all the time.
Theis has also played with other stars in his career. Players like Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. He also saw them put in the extra effort to become great. Especially Tatum, who he said worked on his shot release almost every day during practice.
“His release is high. You can’t block it,” Theis said about Tatum.
Stars aren’t created overnight, and Theis has shed some light on how they become superstars and all-time greats. Furthermore, players like Kyrie, Harden, and Tatum are often criticized for their level of play at the end of the season, but we forget to admire and acknowledge how much time and work they’ve put in to get to where they are.
