Kyrie Irving’s career achievements speak for themselves, there are very few players in the history of the NBA that have managed to achieve what Kyrie has. He’s one of the silkiest players the game has ever seen, and that incredible natural ability being boosted by his relentless work has made Irving one of the best players of his generation, and arguably the greatest pure ball-handler ever.
Kyrie has made 3 All-NBA teams, 7 All-Star appearances, and hit one of the most clutch shots of all time to seal an iconic Game 7 victory and the championship for the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Golden State Warriors in 2016. And while this wasn’t enough to see him selected for the 75th Anniversary team, some people, including LeBron James, feel like he deserved a spot.
Nate Jones on Twitter suggested that while Irving has certainly been successful, other players also didn’t make the team who deserve it more. One of the people disagreeing with him, though, was none other than Pelicans guard CJ McCollum.
My eyes tell me awards aside there aren’t 75 players better than him.Period. https://t.co/EF6CBPeH5M
— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) April 19, 2022
Nate Jones: “Skill wise, one of the best ever. Hit one of the biggest shots in NBA history, but the other side of it is he’s made 3 All-NBA teams his entire career. How does he jump guys that have made tons of those teams? Dwight made 8 in his first 10 seasons and didn’t make top 75.”
CJ McCollum: “My eyes tell me awards aside there aren’t 75 players better than him. Period.”
And CJ was backed up on this opinion by none other than his former teammate Damian Lillard, who retweeted the take, despite many of the people arguing for Kyrie suggesting that Lillard is one of the players that didn’t deserve to be included.
Whether Kyrie deserves to make it or not along with the likes of Tracy McGrady, Dwight Howard, and Klay Thompson is something that will be debated for a while, but perhaps they’ll get their chance when the Top 100 is announced in 25 years. Legacy is hard to solidify in the NBA, but a lot of these players likely have some more to add to theirs before they call it quits on their careers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR7im1BCl8Q
