TMac says that Kyrie & KD duo are more skilled than LeBron & Wade and Jordan & Pippen

[lambchop]

If this ends in 4 and KD and Kyrie don't show up again, they will definitely be the most skilled duo to both have a bad series while getting swept. Kyrie at least had a great game 1.

[BladeDaywalker]

Honestly, it is bizarre to me how so many former players judge a player's skill simply based on offensive iso scoring.

They seem to ignore all other aspects of the game especially defense.

Playing defense effectively require skills and is not just something that anybody can do.

Let just use Jordan/Pippen against Durant/Kyrie:

Even if we discount defense, what proof is there that Durant is more skilled than Jordan on offense.

We know that Jordan led the league in scoring 10 times which is the most in NBA history. Only Wilt with 7 scoring titles is close in this category.

Jordan is obviously a far better playmaker than Durant and had the ability to actually initiate the offense, control the pace of the game, and set his teammates up for an easy shot.

A good example would be during the 1989 season when Jordan played the final 24 games of the regular season as the team starting point guard due to the struggle of Sam Vincent and averaged 30.4 points, 10.7 assists, 9.2 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game. He had 12 triple doubles in those 24 games.

You can also use the 1991 NBA Finals where Jordan averaged 11.4 apg against the Lakers.

As a purely iso scorer, Jordan could get his shot whenever he wanted to and dominate his opponent in the post with his jumper.

When you add in Jordan's defensive capabilities which included winning a DPOY, what realistic argument does Durant have over Jordan in term of skills?

Looking at Pippen against Kyrie, what does Kyrie do better than Pippen beside Iso scoring and handling the ball when driving to the hoop?

From a defensive standpoint, Pippen is in a different category compared to Kyrie.

From an offensive standpoint, it is obvious that Pippen could handle the full load of being a #1 option compared to Kyrie when you look at the 1994 season.

The 1994 Bulls replaced Jordan with Pete Myers and signed Steve Keer along with Bill Wennington in the offseason.

Yet, without Jordan, they went 55-27 and should have made it to the Eastern Conference Final if it wasn't for a blown call in Game 5 against the Knicks.

Pippen as the #1 option averaged 22 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 5.6 apg on 49.1% shooting.

He finished 3rd in MVP, 4th in DPOY, was named 1st Team All-NBA and 1st Team All-Defensive.

Pippen was the main playmaker and initiator on offense for the 1994 Bulls.

From Kyrie's career, it is obvious that there is no way that he could have done what Pippen did for the Bulls during the 1994 season.

As an all around player, Pippen is easily more skilled than Kyrie in my opinion.

When players talk about skills, they should consider what a player can do both on offense and defense in all aspect of the game instead of just limiting everything to iso scoring.