Steph Curry is still ahead of Kyrie Irving

Despite criticism, Stephen Curry is still ahead of Kyrie Irving.

Following the Warriors’ Finals loss to the Cavaliers this past June, basketball fans blamed several players for their collapse on the biggest stage in basketball. None faced bigger scrutiny and criticism than reigning MVP and superstar, Stephen Curry. Fans (and even pro sports accounts) on social media voiced their opinion about Curry and if this Finals’ collapse made him a worse player or an “overrated” player and who could possibly be a better point guard than Curry is.

Apparently, several fans have alluded to Kyrie Irving, the Cavs’ All-Star point guard being a better talent than Curry. Social Media still can’t get over the collapse and therefore, think that Irving is a better player than Curry is already at 24 years old.

https://twitter.com/SportsNation/status/767847831193448449

First of all, this is an unfair comparison considering Kyrie Irving played only 11 games in his freshman year at Duke before being drafted and Curry played three years at Davidson before declaring for the NBA draft in 2009.

Another reason that this comparison is unreasonable is because Irving has been relatively healthy throughout his career but Curry has been hampered by ankle issues throughout his NBA career. Warriors fans hold their breath whenever he falls down after a drive to the basket or he comes up limping on his ankle after a play.

Although Curry did lose to Irving in the Finals, does it make him less of a player than Irving? No, it certainly doesn’t because Curry won the NBA title the year before. Yes, yes, I know Irving was hurt for the majority of that series, but Curry won a championship in 2015 the same way that Irving won a title this past June with Curry wobbling on one knee. Irving is a great, young player and will continue to improve, but right now, he is not a better point guard than Steph Curry.

It was evidenced in Team USA play when there were several times I saw during games, when Irving would just be dribbling at the top of the key and do some in-and-out dribble move, hesitation, and lose his defender and chuck up a shot. I understand that Irving is more of a scoring point guard and wants to score, but when you have four other all stars on the floor, why would you go one-on-one when you can move the ball from side-to-side and get the best possible shot?

Many people have defended Curry in still being the best point guard in the league. With his second MVP in a row and his numbers skyrocketing from the year before and his overall Player Efficiency Rating (PER) being the best of all time, it’s no surprise people defend Curry in being the best point guard and one of the top 3 players in the world. One of the people who is defending Curry from the backlash that he has received since the Finals is NBA writer, Nate Duncan as evidenced by his tweet below:

People forget that Irving is a product of James’ playmaking abilities and how he sees the floor. Don’t get me wrong, Irving does his share of playmaking duties, but when the game gets close, the ball will almost always go to LeBron. Here is some evidence that Kyrie might handle the ball a little too much in his summer with Team USA.

Now, these are some great finishes by Irving, but everyone on the floor is just standing and watching him go one-on-one. It might as well be one-on-five since he didn’t really pass the ball and just tried to beat his defender off the dribble with a crossover. With Steph, however, it’s different because when he drives or makes a move, the defense sucks in and collapses and that’s when he finds open players. Steph has mastered this skill that Kyrie has yet to master. The only time Curry would come down and take a quick shot is when he’s in “human torch mode”. Irving might have a green light to shoot, but Curry has a fluorescent green light from anywhere at anytime on the basketball court.

Let’s look at some stats between the two ball-handling wizards.

First, the two-MVP and NBA champion Steph Curry.

Next, the All-Star and defending NBA champion Kyrie Irving.

As you can see from the stats above, Curry has better numbers than Irving in almost every category. The stats are close, but the edge belongs to the Warriors’ point guard. Yes, I know, some of you might argue that Irving has played less in the league than Curry, but, as I said before, Curry has had several ankle injuries, thus preventing him to play and perform at his peak level.

To conclude, Irving is a great player with a good ceiling, but he is not a better player than Curry. Curry’s vision and instinct to know when to pass and when to shoot is superior to Irving’s knowledge of that concept. Yes, Curry is also a scoring point guard, but he knows when to pass and when to shoot. Maybe, just maybe, next season, Curry can move light years ahead of Irving.