NBA champ: "people scared to say" Kyrie Irving better than Steph Curry

Ben Verbrugge

NBA champ: "people scared to say" Kyrie Irving better than Steph Curry image

Kyrie Irving is a polarizing player whose ranking among the NBA's all-time greats varies more than most. He was left off the NBA 75th Anniversary Team despite being regarded as one of the most skilled players in history with the ball in his hand.

Some cannot stand Irving, while others view him as the greatest ball handler and finisher ever. Nick Young made his stance clear in a recent post on his X account.

"Kyrie is the Kobe to Curry MJ (people) scared to say he's better.." said Young.

While it is somewhat unclear what Young is inferring, he is trying to say that Kyrie Irving is to Steph Curry what Kobe Bryant was to Michael Jordan. He also implies that people are afraid to admit that Irving is better than Curry, the same way no one wants to say Bryant was better than Jordan.

It is a loaded statement jammed into a short and confusing post, but he got his point across. Young played alongside Curry and Bryant during his twelve-year NBA career, winning a championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2018.

Bashing a player that helped him win an NBA title is puzzling, but Young is no stranger to controversy, and it is more a compliment to Irving than a shot at Curry.

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Irving should be held on a higher pedestal when it comes to all-time debates. Ahead of Curry might be a stretch, but not making the top 75 players list is a travesty. He hit one of the biggest shots in NBA history, has averaged more than 20 points per game eleven times in his career, and became a member of the 50-40-90 club in 2021.

Young's take is not entirely off, and it is also worth noting that his series-clinching shot in the 2016 NBA Finals was over Curry's outstretched fingertips. Irving is one of the more underrated players in the NBA, even today, and you cannot write the history of basketball without Kyrie Irving.

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Ben Verbrugge

Ben Verbrugge Photo

Ben Verbrugge is a sports writer with a journalism degree from CSU Dominguez Hills. As a credentialed member of the Los Angeles media, he has covered NBA, WNBA, MLB and NFL events. Participating in and watching sports has always been essential to his life.