What has Kyrie done to warrant his hype?

[bigboi]

Ranked as a top 75 player all time. Hasn’t had a deep playoff run since his early 20s with arguably the best player ever. Hasn’t had enough success since then and every team played with has sunk. So realgm stat geeks, explain to me what stats justify Kyrie being regarded as a top pg because to me, he looks like the most overrated player ever

[tsherkin]

Do people hype him? He gets a lot of pushback here...

[Homer38]

deleted

[MyUniBroDavis]

Ranked as a top 75 player all time. Hasn’t had a deep playoff run since his early 20s with arguably the best player ever. Hasn’t had enough success since then and every team played with has sunk. So realgm stat geeks, explain to me what stats justify Kyrie being regarded as a top pg because to me, he looks like the most overrated player ever

He didn’t get top 75, that he was ranked was a conspiracy and it might’ve just been a nets article since he videos were all nets highlights

Kyrie at top 75 would be a lot more based off how u think he is as a player than his accomplishments and even then compared to everyone now he’s a stretch. Hard to be top 75 all time when he’s not top 15 rn, even if u rate modern guys way higher. If it’s just like legacy then maybe I guess, just because he’s in those most skilled convos and i think most would agree he’s got best handles ever unless ur going all contrarian lol

[HeartBreakKid]

Ranked as a top 75 player all time. Hasn’t had a deep playoff run since his early 20s with arguably the best player ever. Hasn’t had enough success since then and every team played with has sunk. So realgm stat geeks, explain to me what stats justify Kyrie being regarded as a top pg because to me, he looks like the most overrated player ever

What....are you even talking about? I have never seen Kyrie Irving ranked that highly. I even wasted my time to look at the NBA 75th anniversary to see if you're talking about that and he's not on that list either.

[Dutchball97]

If we're using the anniversary team as a benchmark, what about the guy who started an entire salty campaign for being left out and called himself the "77th best player in NBA history" all while having a noticeably less impactful career than even Kyrie?

For anything involving the word overrated in the last decade or so, the answer is Klay Thompson.

[Eagle4]

The fact that he's probably the best dribbler/ball handler of all time with the ability to score literally anywhere on the court with a phenomenal layup package/finishing ability, that's about it.

[McBubbles]

He's the most casual friendly player in sports history. Flashiest NBA player of all time, with several "clutch" highlights all in a "relatable" 6'2 and skinny package. In terms of appeal he's AI on steroids basically.

[Homer38]

The hype he has is largely because of the 2016 finals(game 5 and his clutch shot in game 7)

[SilentA]

Isn't he just a standard all-star level, but not exceptional, high offensive load/weak defense point guard? Do people rate him differently?

Maybe he gets additional hype for Cavs championship legacy + big moments, and a flashy game. Then he loses points for his antics and resulting lack of availability. But on balance:

+ Very good on offense. Recently in the 50-40-90 club (on 26.9PPG/54 games played, although sure he had Durant and/or Harden for a decent amount of those), can shoot and finish well at high volume on decent efficiency (currently 61.1% TS on 27.2 PPG), can play on and off the ball, ok passing without too many turnovers per assist.

- Weak on defense. That said, relative to his role as a high offensive load smaller point guard, he doesn't seem noticeably better or worse than average (i.e. better than Trae on defense, worse than Curry, somewhere in the middle when looking at the wider range with like Dame, Haliburton, Shae, Fox, Brunson, Morant, Poole, etc.). Maybe someone who studied this season very closely can get more into where exactly he stands among this category of player, and I'm open to having my mind changed on this, but I'm fairly confident the consensus is going to be "bad" compared to all other players on the court, but "slightly above or below average" for a high offensive load PG.

Like... he's not the best, but he's still good. I suppose just those additional factors (legacy, flash, and antics) make him more divisive.

[penbeast0]

If we're using the anniversary team as a benchmark, what about the guy who started an entire salty campaign for being left out and called himself the "77th best player in NBA history" all while having a noticeably less impactful career than even Kyrie?

For anything involving the word overrated in the last decade or so, the answer is Klay Thompson.

Both benefit from playing in the modern era of the NBA where it is much easier to put up high efficiency numbers for a scorer. Kyrie adds PG playmaking, Klay adds decent defense (pre-injury anyway), both won titles with an all-time great. You could make either case pretty easily if you ignore era differentials.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

Kyrie is difficult to stay in front of and he can shoot.

To bad Kyrie does not also have Rondo and Chris Paul skills.

[Cavsfansince84]

I will say that if Kyrie could play like 75+ games, tone down all the drama and not have to be the de facto #1 or leader of a team that he could be a top 15 player on a consistent basis. The problem is since LeBron went to Cleveland in 2015 that's only happened like one time and its hard to find a #1 that Kyrie will defer to. So I think we're all aware that the hype Kyrie has had since the 2016 playoffs is in no way commensurate with where he should be ranked in the league or comparing him to other guys that have had top 75 careers. His entire prime has just been way too erratic and injury filled along with the leadership issues and looking at him minus the 3 years he played with LeBron.

[LukaTheGOAT]

Well a lot of people say he bailed out Lebron in 2016.

I guess if you use the transitive property such as "Lebron's GOAT argument increases 10x because of impressive 16 championship" and Kyrie was the one who hit the shot to take the lead...well by that logic, Kyrie multiplied Lebron's career value by 6x at least, and therefore is worthy of praise.

[TheLand13]

If we're using the anniversary team as a benchmark, what about the guy who started an entire salty campaign for being left out and called himself the "77th best player in NBA history" all while having a noticeably less impactful career than even Kyrie?

For anything involving the word overrated in the last decade or so, the answer is Klay Thompson.

Both benefit from playing in the modern era of the NBA where it is much easier to put up high efficiency numbers for a scorer. Kyrie adds PG playmaking, Klay adds decent defense (pre-injury anyway), both won titles with an all-time great. You could make either case pretty easily if you ignore era differentials.

If we're using the anniversary team as a benchmark, what about the guy who started an entire salty campaign for being left out and called himself the "77th best player in NBA history" all while having a noticeably less impactful career than even Kyrie?

For anything involving the word overrated in the last decade or so, the answer is Klay Thompson.

Both benefit from playing in the modern era of the NBA where it is much easier to put up high efficiency numbers for a scorer. Kyrie adds PG playmaking, Klay adds decent defense (pre-injury anyway), both won titles with an all-time great. You could make either case pretty easily if you ignore era differentials.

I will never understand the hate Thompson gets on this site. It's truly baffling.

I mean, you straight up said "Thompson adds DECENT defense".

How can people make these statements with a straight face? How? I just blows my mind the level of disrespect people give to him.

[NO-KG-AI]

People think that isolation skills and difficult shots are the pinnacle of basketball.

[jazzfan1971]

I was never very high on him. Until... Last time he played the Jazz he looked like a machine sent from the future to score buckets. Everything he did was pure.

I still don't love him, but man, that was impressive.

[Dutchball97]

If we're using the anniversary team as a benchmark, what about the guy who started an entire salty campaign for being left out and called himself the "77th best player in NBA history" all while having a noticeably less impactful career than even Kyrie?

For anything involving the word overrated in the last decade or so, the answer is Klay Thompson.

Both benefit from playing in the modern era of the NBA where it is much easier to put up high efficiency numbers for a scorer. Kyrie adds PG playmaking, Klay adds decent defense (pre-injury anyway), both won titles with an all-time great. You could make either case pretty easily if you ignore era differentials.

If we're using the anniversary team as a benchmark, what about the guy who started an entire salty campaign for being left out and called himself the "77th best player in NBA history" all while having a noticeably less impactful career than even Kyrie?

For anything involving the word overrated in the last decade or so, the answer is Klay Thompson.

Both benefit from playing in the modern era of the NBA where it is much easier to put up high efficiency numbers for a scorer. Kyrie adds PG playmaking, Klay adds decent defense (pre-injury anyway), both won titles with an all-time great. You could make either case pretty easily if you ignore era differentials.

I will never understand the hate Thompson gets on this site. It's truly baffling.

I mean, you straight up said "Thompson adds DECENT defense".

How can people make these statements with a straight face? How? I just blows my mind the level of disrespect people give to him.

He's right. Klay never produced anything close to the defensive impact people made him out to have. People can make these statements with a straight face because they're backed up by stats. It's only "baffling" if you don't bother to actually do some research instead of holding on to baseless expectations.

Btw giving your honest opinion about a player's performance has nothing to do with hate. Klay as a person seems very chill but that doesn't mean he lives up to his reputation on the court. Actually kind of worrying you link player evaluation to how much you like someone, doesn't sound all that objective tbh.

[parapooper]

Well a lot of people say he bailed out Lebron in 2016.

I guess if you use the transitive property such as "Lebron's GOAT argument increases 10x because of impressive 16 championship" and Kyrie was the one who hit the shot to take the lead...well by that logic, Kyrie multiplied Lebron's career value by 6x at least, and therefore is worthy of praise.

Here is another perspective on what happened to close out game 7 of the 2016 finals:
With 14 minutes to go GSW came back from 7 pts down to even the score at 71:71, after that:

What actually happened in those final 14 minutes:
LeBron scores 13 pts on 59%TS
Kyrie + Love + Klay + Curry together score 14 points on 30% TS
Kyrie closes 2/8 on 31% TS
Cavs win by 4
Kyrie is the big hero who with his extreme clutchness saved Lebron who had to get bailed out again


What if Kyrie misses "the shot that saved LeBron" and everything else stays exactly the same:
LBJ: 4/9 -> 13pts on 59%TS
Kyrie + Love + Klay + Curry: 5/23 -> 11 pts on 24% TS
Kyrie closes 1/8 (instead of the insanely clutch, LeBron-saving 2/8 on 31% TS he actually delivered)

The game ends like this:
Lebron has an insane block on a potential game winner resulting from Kyrie's airball from 5ft
Everyone is nervous/exhausted and misses for 1.5 minutes
Curry misses a well-defended 3 - Lebron gets a contested rebound
Kyrie runs a fastbreak, almost turning the ball over but saving it - the possession ends with a nice pass from Kyrie to LeBron, who gets fouled while in the air about to hammer-dunk a finals game 7 game-winner with 11 sec to go.
Lebron makes his second FT
Cavs win by 1 with LeBron outscoring Kyrie + Love + Curry + Klay down that stretch with >2x their efficiency, blocking a game-winner and making the game-winning FT

Sounds like a real nightmare scenario for LeBron

[GSP]

Never has a players entire career and legacy been carried and tied to one series as the 2nd option no less than Kyrie.....You look at Kyries career without Bron and he is Hotep Kemba