‘Kyrie Irving is better than Allen Iverson’: When Kevin Durant explained how Nets star is better than Sixers legend

It’s not the first time the comparison has been made, but Kevin Durant hyped his teammate Kyrie Irving up as ‘more skilled’ than 2001 NBA MVP Allen Iverson.

Allen Iverson is one of those NBA legends whose style on and off the court was something every guard tried to copy. He brought hip hop culture by way of fashion, and for long, he was one of those beloved one-franchise All Stars.

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Kyrie Irving has been receiving heat non stop for over 3 years ever since his flat earther saga. On the court as well, despite racking up good stats and in general, living up to the billing, the #1 draft pick from 2011 has struggled in terms of team success.

Kevin Durant calls Kyrie a more skilled player than Allen Iverson

KD waxed eloquent about his teammate on the Brooklyn Nets. The duo decided to team up as free agents last year. Both have had injury issues over the past year, with Durant recovering from an Achilles tear and Kyrie sidelined with a shoulder that was later operated on.

Under new rookie head coach Steve Nash, the Nets will be expected to make a title run playing pretty offense. Durant will be banking heavily on his running mate in the next season. Kyrie in turn enjoys no shortage of faith from the 4-time scoring champion.

The major talking point from the Bill Simmons podcast in 2017 was when Kevin Durant spoke about how he felt Kyrie was better than Allen Iverson.

As soon as he said that, he asked if that part could be cut out, as he did not want any trouble.

“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.” KD said.

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He also alluded to Kyrie’s skill level on the podcast

“I was telling some of my friends after Game 2 (2017 NBA Finals). 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’ve never seen nobody like him.”