Austin Rivers played against many incredible players in his 11 seasons in the NBA and believes Kyrie Irving was the best he ever had to guard. During an interview with Overtime, Rivers explained why Irving was even more difficult to defend than someone like LeBron James.
“He is the best player I’ve ever had to guard”, Rivers said. “I don’t know how to explain that because I know I’ve played against players who are technically ‘ranked’ higher than him.
“Because like LeBron’s not quicker than me, so he would just overpower me with his strength down low in the post,” Rivers continued. “But then at the end of the day, we would be living with that. If I got LeBron shooting fadeaway twos over me then (I did a good job).
“You get off a screen with Kyrie, Kyrie will just call an iso,” Rivers added. “Being on an iso with him is like, you’re looking around like where I got my help at? And he’s a guy that can go left, can go right, he can shoot off the dribble three, shoot off the catch three, finish with his left, finish with his right, has hook shots, floaters, post-game, post fadeaway, he has no flaws in his game.”
Austin Rivers said Kyrie the toughest player he ever had to guard 👀
Respect comes from your peers 💯 @AustinRivers25 pic.twitter.com/OAPMFoCRGU
— Overtime (@overtime) January 18, 2025
Irving certainly is capable of hurting you as an opponent in more ways than most. As Rivers explained, the Dallas Mavericks star has many moves in his arsenal and if you take one thing away from him, he’ll just go to another.
Irving averaged 26.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game in clashes against Rivers. He was quite efficient in those games too, as he shot 49.0% from the field and 44.2% from beyond the arc.
While those are impressive numbers, it should come as little surprise that James bettered them. He averaged 27.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, 7.6 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game in contests against Rivers. James was also more efficient than Irving from the field, as he shot 54.1%. The only area where the guard bettered him was three-point shooting, as LeBron only connected on 34.9% of his shots from three.
James might not have that “deep bag” like Irving but still manages to be more effective on the court. His combination of athleticism and skill made him impossible to guard for much of his career and teams are still finding it hard to slow him down in his 22nd season in the NBA.
James is averaging 23.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2024-25. The 40-year-old isn’t dominating on a nightly basis as he once did but puts in magical performances from time to time. We’ll see James in action next against the Washington Wizards at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday at 10:30 PM ET.
As for Irving, he is averaging 23.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game for the Mavericks in 2024-25. He hasn’t been as consistent as you’d like, but missing time with injuries might have played a part in that. The Mavericks would be hoping Irving can stay healthy the rest of the way and he’ll be in action next against the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center on Monday at 12 PM ET.
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