Kyrie Irving is the best 20 year old in the game of basketball today. There is no question. His uncanny ability to dribble the ball in any which way he so pleases, coupled with his cool demeanor in the crunch time, and his amazing offensive game, make him one of the league’s most promising players.
This past weekend, All Star Weekend, Kyrie made the city of Cleveland incredibly proud of their newfound prodigy. First crossing up my high school classmate, Brandon Knight, and making waves throughout the internet, then becoming the second Cavalier to win the three point shootout, and finally putting up 15 points, 2 rebounds, and 4 assists, during the main event on Sunday night, Kyrie continued to make Cavaliers fans burst with pride.
During all of his success this weekend, Kyrie had NBA players, coaches, and analysts speaking as if he was the second coming of LeBron James. Of course, Kyrie doesn’t have the stature of LeBron, but his incredible skill set, at 20 years old, sure makes for some comparisons to Cleveland’s former son.
LeBron and Kyrie are tremendously different players. LeBron is a massive, barreling tank that can drive to the hoop whenever he pleases. His skill set is unrivaled, and many have compared him to the greatest of all time, Michael Jordan. Kyrie, on the other hand, may be more flashy than LeBron. He’s not going to dominate his opponents with size as LeBron does, but he makes it all look so good. Kyrie has the dribbles that LeBron will never have, the outside shot that LeBron will never have, and, thus far, the clutch ability that LeBron never had in Cleveland.
I would say that they’re similar because they are so perfectly different. Essentially, they would complete each other. If you put Kyrie’s skills on LeBron’s body, you just might have the perfect basketball player. No flaws to be found. Some would say that LeBron is already the perfect basketball player, but imagine if LeBron had some of Kyrie’s game. Imagine a 6’8 tank of a man who could shoot the three consistently, dribble through waves of players, take the ball to the hole like no one has ever seen, dunk with incredible power, play with his back to the basket, and make the big play when it counted most. That’s what you would have if you morphed Kyrie and LeBron James together. It would be insane.
Imagine if those two were on the same team. It would be like Stockton and Malone times ten, Jordan and Pippen times two, or Kobe and Shaq on steroids. I truly believe that a 22 year old Kyrie Irving and a 30 year old LeBron James could beat anyone in the NBA. That’s how good they would be together. If LeBron somehow returned to Cleveland, the city would be amazed at what these guys would do. I would honestly consider 70 wins, if they found a center.
However, if the LeBron talk dies down and LeBron stays in Miami or goes somewhere else in 2014, Cleveland is going to have to face a very sad reality: Kyrie is going to leave, just as LeBron did.
We’ve all heard the stories about Kyrie thus far. Disinterested at times, frustrated, angry. Kyrie has been great for Cleveland, but it hasn’t come without a price. The Cavaliers are not a very good basketball team right now. They are extremely young, and while Kyrie is playing at a veteran level, he’s being slowed down by the lack of experience around him. He can feel it, just as much as you and I can feel it.
While I feel that Tristan Thompson will be a great asset in the future to pair with Kyrie, I just don’t see Tyler Zeller, Dion Waiters, or anyone else on the crew panning out to be anything more than decent role players. I know it’s year one, and I know they have sparks, but what I am saying is, I don’t see a championship contender in a Kyrie, Dion, Gee, Thompson, and Zeller lineup. Kyrie wants to compete for championships, and it’s not going to happen with a lineup like that.
Now, the Cavs could get lucky and catch lightning in a bottle during next year’s draft, or even during free agency. Anything can happen. On the current path, however, the road to a title seems to be meandering and may eventually just come to a dead end.
I think that Kyrie can see that dead end approaching, and that is what scares me. I think he knows how high the ceiling is for most of his teammates, and he knows that it’s not high enough. That’s why he is frustrated. He knows that these are growing pains, but these growing pains may not lead to anything more than a 6 seed in the playoffs down the road.
Essentially, without LeBron, you can kiss Kyrie goodbye.
LeBron is the Cavaliers’ only chance at a championship. It’s funny how things remain the same, even when they seemingly change. While he was in Cleveland, he was our only chance, and now that he’s out of Cleveland, he’s still our only chance. It’s a testament to his incredible ability.
I truly believe that the Cavs could win up to 70 games with a Kyrie, Waiters, LeBron, Thompson, and (healthy) Varejao lineup. That team could compete for a championship, without a doubt. That’s the team that Kyrie wants to be on. He wants to contend, and he knows that without LeBron, he may never get a chance to.
When LeBron spurns Cleveland for the second time, it could be way more hurtful than it was the first. Not only will his talents not be in Cleveland, but he will be taking Kyrie’s talents away as well.
Kyrie is not going to dwell in mediocrity in Cleveland. It has nothing to do with the city, the fans, nor the ownership. It simply has to do with the fact that the pieces around him aren’t good enough to compete for titles, especially when LeBron James and Kevin Durant are in the same league. He knows, much like LeBron knew, that he isn’t going to get it done by himself. We are now fully capable of understanding that the days of a one-man championship are most likely over. Kyrie now knows that too.
LeBron James is the deciding factor in all of this, and we all know what he’s done to Cleveland in the past. That’s why I believe he’ll do it all over again, and this time he’ll drag Kyrie along with him.
Enjoy Kyrie while you can, Cleveland. He has our hearts full of pride now, but he could be more like his predecessor than any of us could have imagined.
Follow Hayden on Twitter @H_Grove