The former member of the Golden State Warriors, Kevin Durant, has picked Kyrie Irving over Stephen Curry as his best point guard teammate.
Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant accomplished a lot with the Golden State Warriors. Two championships and three trips to the NBA Finals in three seasons is an incredible run. Despite this, Durant feels his new teammate, Kyrie Irving, is better than Curry.
In a recent interview, Durant was asked to create a starting five consisting of players he had played alongside in the past. Durant’s final lineup came out like this:
- Kyrie Irving
- James Harden
- Kevin Durant
- Draymond Green
- Serge Ibaka
“That’s a perfect team,” Durant said. This five, headlined by Irving and Harden, is Durant’s ideal lineup.
Though Durant and Irving haven’t officially begun their time together yet, KD clearly has high expectations for the six-time All-Star. Irving was partly responsible for dethroning the Warriors in 2016 and has an advantage over Curry in Durant’s eyes.
However, there is no debate who has been the better point guard over the years. Curry is an otherworldly talent that revolutionized the game of basketball as a whole. His 3-point shooting and leadership have made the Warriors an all-time great dynasty.
In their three years together, Curry and Durant combined for an average of 52.1 points per game. This is the highest scoring total of any duo this decade and one of the highest in the history of the game.
Together, Durant and Curry “broke the NBA.” It was this duo that put the Dubs over the top and helped them coast to a 16-1 record in the 2017 NBA Playoffs.
Irving is a phenomenal player and will find success alongside Durant. However, let’s not get ahead of ourselves by placing him above Curry. There will never be another Curry and I think Durant will ultimately change his mind later in his career.