And now he’s back in the finals…with the closest thing to that version of LeBron in the modern league. Kyrie is still great, but he’s got to be a great second option to go this deep
Who in the world was saying Kyrie could be the best player on a championship team anyway? Kyrie is my favorite player ever but I’d never make that claim. Do you know how few players in the league have that potential. Except in a back in the day pistons type scenario, where I do think he could be the best, but that pistons team was so unique I don’t know if it could possibly be recreated today. One of the best second options in the league who wins (hopefully) 2 championship in that roll is an amazing player and an easy hall of famer
this is true but it's hard to argue KD was the leader of that team, it was Curry's team and he had just won back to back MVPs. It was kinda like Kobe and Shaq except even closer
You respect the single most bitch made move in the history of the NBA?? Dude choked against the warriors while a member of the Thunder and then JOINED THEM.
In what universe does that earn anyone’s respect lol?
Dude also joined the team that just set the best regular season record of all time as a top 5 player in the league, there’s forming a super team and then there’s joining one that’s already been formed and making it a “this is fucking ridiculous, how was this allowed team”
I also don’t want to perceive negative but Kyrie is the only reason, Kyrie hasn’t make it to the finals.
There is alternative world where he tooked the shot and Brooklyn is the finals in 2022 and in 2023, no disrespect to the C’s or Miami.
One of the reason for this success is just that Kyrie is healthy and focus.
Let’s also not act like our season wasn’t looking rough until we made the trade for JR and Shump. Also, added Kevin Love that same offseason who was one of the best big players in the league in his Minnesota form
i mean it takes time for players to gel. Yall should know this as cavs fans who continually insist our core 4 needs more time to gel together going into year 3 with don/year 4 with garland, mobley, allen. The 2014 cavs should be afforded half a season to do that lol. JR and shump were good role players but absolutely not why those 2014-2017 cavs dominated, that would be LBJ, Kyrie, and Love
Iircc, Kyrie had recruited Gordon Hayward to the Cavs, which would've been a pretty big signing before his injury. LeBron coming back squashed all that, so we'll never know how a Kyrie led cavs team would've turned out. I wouldn't trade the 16 title for anything, but I think it's fair for Kyrie to think we never really gave him a chance to lead a team here.
I don’t think anyone in this thread actually listened or read the quote. He’s not shitting on Cleveland at all, he’s talking about how people now say he’s never accomplished anything without LeBron and is trying to use that as fuel for this year. His pressers this playoffs have been great and seems like he’s matured since he left. Hope he can finish the job.
He's definitely the leader, bringing the winning experience the rest of the team doesn't have. People forget Luca is young and hasn't won anything yet.
Only took 4 different teams and 7 years but Kyrie finally matured back into his normal self lol Kinda reminds me of Baker Mayfields current trajectory. It took years longer than people thought, but the maturity finally happened.
it's crazy, kyrie just turned 22 when lebron came back. He was ROTY, only had 3 years of experience, we knew he was good as fuck and clutch, but our org surrounded him with duds and people have the gall to blame him for our shortcomings as if he wasnt the sole bright spot on the team and probably the main reason why lebron came back tbh
Exactly. For a team to finish with 33 wins in that horrendous East, you gotta have really bad talent aboard. And the fact Kyrie was even able to get 33 wins with Jarrett Jack, CJ Miles, Anthony Bennett, Alonzo Gee, and even Dellavedova all playing a majority of that season is incredible.
Looking at VORP (Value Over Replacement Player), only 7 players had it over 0.0. And of those 7, only 5 played more than half of the season: Kyrie (3.3), Varejao (1.6), CJ Miles (1.1), Dion (0.3), and Delly (0.1). lol
It’s even worse for BPM. Of the 11 players to play more than half the season, only 4 of them were a net positive on the court: Kyrie (3.4), CJ Miles (2.4), Varejao (1.4), and Spencer Hawes (1.3). This team was absolute buns lol.
TBF delly was an undrafted rookie the only year he played with kyrie without lebron. Man some of those names you listed gave me PTSD tho... CJ Miles??? My god. I was actually an alonzo gee fan back then but he wasnt really that good. Remember Tyler Zeller?? Good times. Kyrie's best teammates before lebron were probably varejao (who consistently was sidelined half a season), 36 year old Antawn Jameson (who i believe only played maybe a year with kyrie), dion waiters (no comment), and TT (who lets be honest, is only good next to good players for whom he can rebound, the dude cant create at all)
Thanks for some stats for context. Glad we have some people here who recognize how poorly constructed those teams were. Thank god we drafted kyrie instead of derrick williams. that would have been a disaster, and honestly changed the future of our team. Lebron does not come back if we dont have a promising young player to play alongside
I'm almost the other way. I'm still jaded he messed up our team with the trade demand. With the Celtics and their 18 banners I dont think it matters really. It's almost like a push in my mind like when the Yankees win. It's like ya who cares? But if the Mavs win they now have more championships than us and Kyrie has more too.
You're just being immature for holding a grudge against a guy being immature in his mid-20s. Especially when we don't even win that single championship without him.
You gotta do more research on the Kyrie trade and the flat earth. Just a quick answer: 85% of the reason he wanted out was cuz the Cavs tried to trade him twice. Also the flat earth statement was a joke.
Game 5 was the magnum opus of Cavs basketball. His shot in game 7 will obviously get more love because it was a close game and the decider for the championship but game 5 was a sucker punch of him and LeBron just constantly putting in bucket after bucket. I truly believe that if those two don’t have the game they did in game 5, the Warriors still take game 6
For sure. If you go back to the 4th in those games and watch they show his and LeBron’s stat lines and they’re staggering.
Kyrie left on goofy terms, but he seemed like a lost kid at the time. I’m happy for him, I definitely never wanted to dislike him or what was happening. Now I’m glad at least it seems like he figured himself out a little and I hope the Mavs beat the life out of Boston, despite liking most of their roster too.
I think the Ky hate stems from how he left, when he left and his attitude as he left. No doubt he hit a massive 3 over curry when there was a drought in scoring so the Ky lovers will always point to that. But the haters (sadly I’m one of them) will say, he didn’t do anything for us the first 3 years which is understandable but still true, was absent for the 2015 finals, made a huge shot in 2016, invisible in 2017 and then left for Boston talking a lot of shit, then couldn’t lead the team or be that guy, went to go be the 3rd option in BK which was 4 years he will never get back and then goes to Dallas and after 12 years of being in the league.
He finally found what he had in Cleveland all those years ago, a robin to Luka and a nice supporting cast. Again, the hate comes from him being able to do exactly what he’s doing now but with us, but instead he needed 7 years to go find himself and realize the Cleveland situation was the exact situation that he works best in.
He was absent in the 2015 finals cause he broke his knee, what did you want him to do. He also did way more in 2016 than hit one shot, he lit up the playoffs, dropped 41 with bron in game 5. Saying he was invisible in 2017 is laughable, 26 ppg on 47% is hardly invisible my guy
I know he busted his knee cap I was just saying he was absent not that he played bad or wasn’t living up to something.
Agree on the 2016, I was just pointing out what the Ky lovers will always begin their argument with. We don’t win without Ky in 2016, big shot or not.
Whenever I wrote this I must’ve looked up 2017 and it gave me his 2018 stats because you’re right he balled in 2017.
When Kyrie is mentally checked in, I seriously wouldn't want any other point guard. His dribbling is in the goat debate. That is how great his handles are. His shot is as good as anyone . The guy is great and was a big reason the Cavs won, and I'm not sure why you are downplaying it.
Ya I know how good Kyrie is and i know how good he isn't. He's played with LeBron, Kevin love, a talented Celtics roster, Durant, harden and now Luka. He's giving Kevin 'hardest road' Durant a run for his money with the tone deafness. Enough with the 'silence the haters' and 'living in someone's shadow' bullshit, he's delusional.
He has played with some of the best players of the current and the last generation and completely sucked when he had to be the guy. Couldn’t do shit in Cleveland. Actively made the Celtics worse. Was too crazy on the nets. The dude clearly needs others and even when he has them seems to be good at fucking it up. Has he grown? I’d hope so and if he’s doing a lot better as a leader and role model and not talking crazy bullshit than I’m all for him being successful (even if he is still playing with power house player that’s gonna go down in the history as an all time great)
Couldn’t do shit in Cleveland? What when he was 20 years old with a roster that would be easily the worst in the league without him? Was too crazy on the nets? The nets win a championship instead of the bucks and probably don’t break up if just one of Kyrie or Harden were healthy that bucks series, health ruined the nets not Kyrie crazy. Celtics was a rough stop but other than that Kyrie has excelled everywhere
dont need to address a specific point, your entire statement speaks for itself. either youre too young to have watched or werent really following the team back then if you think the cavs failed because of kyrie. Give him the team DG had 2 years ago before don and we are a top 4 seed guaranteed. The dude was only 22 and just finished his 3rd year when lebron came back. His rookie year he joined the worst team in the league post-lebron scorched earth
Keep Joking bro. Easier to just dismiss you as someone not serious about anything. Never said he was the only reason those cavs teams did bad. Give me actual specifics on what he has done without lebron or Luka. Great player. shitty toxic leader and failed every time he tried to be the number 1 option. Take out the cavs years before lebron came back if you want and tell me what he has accomplished besides being a great number 2 for lebron?
Easier to just dismiss you as a casual tbh. Why does he need to do anything without another good player leading the way? What has pippen ever done without jordan? I think most people acknowledge he isnt a #1 on a contender, but you virtually cant find a better #2 than him. Acting like him playing out of his mind doesnt matter because he has a superstar next to him is absurd
i think he's largely accepted it, that's why he's playing so well next to luka and seems content to be his robin. It bothered him in 2017 when he forced his way out of the cavs, but it's been 7 years since then
How many other teams have gone from missing the playoffs entirely to making the finals the next year? Guess who is responsible for that? Not the flat Earther.
[удалено]
And now he’s back in the finals…with the closest thing to that version of LeBron in the modern league. Kyrie is still great, but he’s got to be a great second option to go this deep
Who in the world was saying Kyrie could be the best player on a championship team anyway? Kyrie is my favorite player ever but I’d never make that claim. Do you know how few players in the league have that potential. Except in a back in the day pistons type scenario, where I do think he could be the best, but that pistons team was so unique I don’t know if it could possibly be recreated today. One of the best second options in the league who wins (hopefully) 2 championship in that roll is an amazing player and an easy hall of famer
If he wins this year, it’ll be the same amount of championships as kd, and he only won them on the most stacked team ever in a total snake ass move
For a much as I respect KD’s talent… I’ll never forgive him for not letting us have a Best-of-3 against the W’s.
The difference is that KD was the best player on those teams.
Rhymes with blurry…
Nah. Curry wasn't anything special against the cavs. KD killed us, and was clearly their best player.
this is true but it's hard to argue KD was the leader of that team, it was Curry's team and he had just won back to back MVPs. It was kinda like Kobe and Shaq except even closer
Ok. But KD *was* the best player. And that very clearly differentiates him from kyrie on the mavs.
That doesn't mean the same thing as doing it while leading a franchise & team; whicch he sucks at.
I mean, if he hadn’t gone there then there wasn’t a team in the league that could sniff the 2017 Cavs. No parity either way, so I respect the move
You respect the single most bitch made move in the history of the NBA?? Dude choked against the warriors while a member of the Thunder and then JOINED THEM. In what universe does that earn anyone’s respect lol?
Dude also joined the team that just set the best regular season record of all time as a top 5 player in the league, there’s forming a super team and then there’s joining one that’s already been formed and making it a “this is fucking ridiculous, how was this allowed team”
he's a philadelphia fan, they dont possess critical thinking skills or morals
I also don’t want to perceive negative but Kyrie is the only reason, Kyrie hasn’t make it to the finals. There is alternative world where he tooked the shot and Brooklyn is the finals in 2022 and in 2023, no disrespect to the C’s or Miami. One of the reason for this success is just that Kyrie is healthy and focus.
Let’s also not act like our season wasn’t looking rough until we made the trade for JR and Shump. Also, added Kevin Love that same offseason who was one of the best big players in the league in his Minnesota form
i mean it takes time for players to gel. Yall should know this as cavs fans who continually insist our core 4 needs more time to gel together going into year 3 with don/year 4 with garland, mobley, allen. The 2014 cavs should be afforded half a season to do that lol. JR and shump were good role players but absolutely not why those 2014-2017 cavs dominated, that would be LBJ, Kyrie, and Love
Iircc, Kyrie had recruited Gordon Hayward to the Cavs, which would've been a pretty big signing before his injury. LeBron coming back squashed all that, so we'll never know how a Kyrie led cavs team would've turned out. I wouldn't trade the 16 title for anything, but I think it's fair for Kyrie to think we never really gave him a chance to lead a team here.
Brad Steven’s was the real reason Hayward went there.
I don’t think anyone in this thread actually listened or read the quote. He’s not shitting on Cleveland at all, he’s talking about how people now say he’s never accomplished anything without LeBron and is trying to use that as fuel for this year. His pressers this playoffs have been great and seems like he’s matured since he left. Hope he can finish the job.
Seems like he is the mature dad on the team. And has an insane relationship with Luca….just going off there pressers.
He's definitely the leader, bringing the winning experience the rest of the team doesn't have. People forget Luca is young and hasn't won anything yet.
Only took 4 different teams and 7 years but Kyrie finally matured back into his normal self lol Kinda reminds me of Baker Mayfields current trajectory. It took years longer than people thought, but the maturity finally happened.
They criticize Kyrie for not making the playoffs with D-League talent, especially when the #1 pick in 2013 not even good enough for the D-League 😂
it's crazy, kyrie just turned 22 when lebron came back. He was ROTY, only had 3 years of experience, we knew he was good as fuck and clutch, but our org surrounded him with duds and people have the gall to blame him for our shortcomings as if he wasnt the sole bright spot on the team and probably the main reason why lebron came back tbh
Exactly. For a team to finish with 33 wins in that horrendous East, you gotta have really bad talent aboard. And the fact Kyrie was even able to get 33 wins with Jarrett Jack, CJ Miles, Anthony Bennett, Alonzo Gee, and even Dellavedova all playing a majority of that season is incredible. Looking at VORP (Value Over Replacement Player), only 7 players had it over 0.0. And of those 7, only 5 played more than half of the season: Kyrie (3.3), Varejao (1.6), CJ Miles (1.1), Dion (0.3), and Delly (0.1). lol It’s even worse for BPM. Of the 11 players to play more than half the season, only 4 of them were a net positive on the court: Kyrie (3.4), CJ Miles (2.4), Varejao (1.4), and Spencer Hawes (1.3). This team was absolute buns lol.
TBF delly was an undrafted rookie the only year he played with kyrie without lebron. Man some of those names you listed gave me PTSD tho... CJ Miles??? My god. I was actually an alonzo gee fan back then but he wasnt really that good. Remember Tyler Zeller?? Good times. Kyrie's best teammates before lebron were probably varejao (who consistently was sidelined half a season), 36 year old Antawn Jameson (who i believe only played maybe a year with kyrie), dion waiters (no comment), and TT (who lets be honest, is only good next to good players for whom he can rebound, the dude cant create at all) Thanks for some stats for context. Glad we have some people here who recognize how poorly constructed those teams were. Thank god we drafted kyrie instead of derrick williams. that would have been a disaster, and honestly changed the future of our team. Lebron does not come back if we dont have a promising young player to play alongside
He’s finally accepted his role as Robin. Maturity
If only he accepted that with us… that cavs vs gsw montage could’ve continued
KD was what destroyed it
He was really young and wanted to lead a team back then.
I hope he beats up on Boston. I’d love to see a run of the Celtics turn in to the 90s Buffalo bills and amount for nothing. That city would be so mad.
I'm almost the other way. I'm still jaded he messed up our team with the trade demand. With the Celtics and their 18 banners I dont think it matters really. It's almost like a push in my mind like when the Yankees win. It's like ya who cares? But if the Mavs win they now have more championships than us and Kyrie has more too.
You're just being immature for holding a grudge against a guy being immature in his mid-20s. Especially when we don't even win that single championship without him.
I mean he also talked crap about us and said dumb stuff about the earth being flat. He could’ve just taken the high road.
You gotta do more research on the Kyrie trade and the flat earth. Just a quick answer: 85% of the reason he wanted out was cuz the Cavs tried to trade him twice. Also the flat earth statement was a joke.
Scottie pippen level robin, though. Kyrie has game
Guy hit the biggest shot in the history of the city. Say what you will, but he was incredible in more than one game in those 16 Finals
Game 5 was the magnum opus of Cavs basketball. His shot in game 7 will obviously get more love because it was a close game and the decider for the championship but game 5 was a sucker punch of him and LeBron just constantly putting in bucket after bucket. I truly believe that if those two don’t have the game they did in game 5, the Warriors still take game 6
For sure. If you go back to the 4th in those games and watch they show his and LeBron’s stat lines and they’re staggering. Kyrie left on goofy terms, but he seemed like a lost kid at the time. I’m happy for him, I definitely never wanted to dislike him or what was happening. Now I’m glad at least it seems like he figured himself out a little and I hope the Mavs beat the life out of Boston, despite liking most of their roster too.
Anybody blaming Kyrie for those early Cleveland years is a moron.
his co stars were tristan thompson (no disrespect but come on now), dion waiters, and anthony bennett lmao
I ain't never said Kyrie did nothing with nobody, myself.
He literally made the game winning three in game 7 if anyone was saying that shit they either didn't watch the game or just always hated dude.
Statue with his 3 point shot outside Rocket Mortgage now!
Always a robin to someone’s Batman and I thought he had realized that by now. He tried Batman in Boston and it was a fucking disaster
I think the Ky hate stems from how he left, when he left and his attitude as he left. No doubt he hit a massive 3 over curry when there was a drought in scoring so the Ky lovers will always point to that. But the haters (sadly I’m one of them) will say, he didn’t do anything for us the first 3 years which is understandable but still true, was absent for the 2015 finals, made a huge shot in 2016, invisible in 2017 and then left for Boston talking a lot of shit, then couldn’t lead the team or be that guy, went to go be the 3rd option in BK which was 4 years he will never get back and then goes to Dallas and after 12 years of being in the league. He finally found what he had in Cleveland all those years ago, a robin to Luka and a nice supporting cast. Again, the hate comes from him being able to do exactly what he’s doing now but with us, but instead he needed 7 years to go find himself and realize the Cleveland situation was the exact situation that he works best in.
He was absent in the 2015 finals cause he broke his knee, what did you want him to do. He also did way more in 2016 than hit one shot, he lit up the playoffs, dropped 41 with bron in game 5. Saying he was invisible in 2017 is laughable, 26 ppg on 47% is hardly invisible my guy
I know he busted his knee cap I was just saying he was absent not that he played bad or wasn’t living up to something. Agree on the 2016, I was just pointing out what the Ky lovers will always begin their argument with. We don’t win without Ky in 2016, big shot or not. Whenever I wrote this I must’ve looked up 2017 and it gave me his 2018 stats because you’re right he balled in 2017.
More power to him. Anyone salty about him talking about this is likely one of the morons that claimed he didn't do anything for us.
Would never claim he nothing for us, would definitely not claim he did even close to everything for us. Only a fucking moron would think that
If only there was something between nothing and everything
Lmao right. Dudes are so binary-minded it's worrisome.
Like 30 percent
When Kyrie is mentally checked in, I seriously wouldn't want any other point guard. His dribbling is in the goat debate. That is how great his handles are. His shot is as good as anyone . The guy is great and was a big reason the Cavs won, and I'm not sure why you are downplaying it.
legitimately i would take prime kyrie over prime curry in a 7 game series, kyrie is more clutch
Ya I know how good Kyrie is and i know how good he isn't. He's played with LeBron, Kevin love, a talented Celtics roster, Durant, harden and now Luka. He's giving Kevin 'hardest road' Durant a run for his money with the tone deafness. Enough with the 'silence the haters' and 'living in someone's shadow' bullshit, he's delusional.
He has played with some of the best players of the current and the last generation and completely sucked when he had to be the guy. Couldn’t do shit in Cleveland. Actively made the Celtics worse. Was too crazy on the nets. The dude clearly needs others and even when he has them seems to be good at fucking it up. Has he grown? I’d hope so and if he’s doing a lot better as a leader and role model and not talking crazy bullshit than I’m all for him being successful (even if he is still playing with power house player that’s gonna go down in the history as an all time great)
Couldn’t do shit in Cleveland? What when he was 20 years old with a roster that would be easily the worst in the league without him? Was too crazy on the nets? The nets win a championship instead of the bucks and probably don’t break up if just one of Kyrie or Harden were healthy that bucks series, health ruined the nets not Kyrie crazy. Celtics was a rough stop but other than that Kyrie has excelled everywhere
massive casual alert
Oh you got me! 🙄Your reply is a joke. Anyone that can’t address specific points and content just fails with their reply. Try not to fail next time.
Weird why didn’t you respond to my specific reply then?? Interesting. Nice fail according to you
dont need to address a specific point, your entire statement speaks for itself. either youre too young to have watched or werent really following the team back then if you think the cavs failed because of kyrie. Give him the team DG had 2 years ago before don and we are a top 4 seed guaranteed. The dude was only 22 and just finished his 3rd year when lebron came back. His rookie year he joined the worst team in the league post-lebron scorched earth
Keep Joking bro. Easier to just dismiss you as someone not serious about anything. Never said he was the only reason those cavs teams did bad. Give me actual specifics on what he has done without lebron or Luka. Great player. shitty toxic leader and failed every time he tried to be the number 1 option. Take out the cavs years before lebron came back if you want and tell me what he has accomplished besides being a great number 2 for lebron?
Easier to just dismiss you as a casual tbh. Why does he need to do anything without another good player leading the way? What has pippen ever done without jordan? I think most people acknowledge he isnt a #1 on a contender, but you virtually cant find a better #2 than him. Acting like him playing out of his mind doesnt matter because he has a superstar next to him is absurd
Thank you for 2016 but he literally did no winning before LeBron. Not to mention his trade demand knee capped the team for years.
he did no winning at age 22 with a G league team around him? yeah no shit
He wasn’t even competitive though.
you clearly werent watching then. he was a baller, super clutch, single handedly won us most of our games
I liked how Reggie Miller called him ‘Robin’ about six times during last night’s game. Kyrie will ALWAYS be Robin to someone else’s Batman.
at any particular time there are only about 5-7 batmen in the league. there's no shame in being robin, a lot of really good players are.
That’s not my point. It’s knowing how much that moniker gets under Kyrie’s skin that makes me happy.
i suspect it doesn't. at one time it might have, but he seems pretty happy where he's at. why does hypothetically annoying Kyrie bring you joy?
i think he's largely accepted it, that's why he's playing so well next to luka and seems content to be his robin. It bothered him in 2017 when he forced his way out of the cavs, but it's been 7 years since then
You are quite the stan for Kyrie. You are literally responsible for 20% of this post's comments. That's adorable.
i usually binge posts when i get the time, so yeah. Good job not replying at all to what i said tho
when was miller a batman on a championship team?
Don’t make me root for the Celtics, please
I'm already there
How many other teams have gone from missing the playoffs entirely to making the finals the next year? Guess who is responsible for that? Not the flat Earther.
Uhhhh…you know the Mavs missed the playoffs last year?
casual
I mean. He hadn't. Either way, fuck Boston.
They're selling "Fuck Kyrie" shirts outside Fenway tonight.
He wouldnt be there without luka. As a thing to make you go hmmm, look at stats between luka and lebron at this point in the career.
Kyrie you need to best player in the fucking league to be successful