I’m Ready To Say It. Kemba Walker Is Better Than Kyrie Irving
I was a long defender of Kyrie Irving. I loved watching him at Duke. It was easy to fall in love with the handles and clutch shot making. When he ran out on LeBron, I loved every minute of it. When he got traded for pennies on the dollar, I loved that too. He even declared he would re-sign at a season ticket holder event. It was all too good to be true.
The Celtics underachieved last year. Jayson Tatum regressed, Jaylen Brown looked like a deer in headlights, and the team lacked mental toughness. Marcus Morris also wanted to fight everyone, but I’m not sure how that’s any different than before. The Celtics finished as a 4 seed and got waxed by Milwaukee in the 2nd round.
This year, Boston is on pace to smash their record from a year ago. Swapping out Kyrie, Al Horford, and Terry Rozier for Kemba Walker, Enes Kanter, and a bunch of rookies should have made the team worse. Except for the fact that Al Horford is a coward, Rozier is an inefficient ball hog, and Kyrie was actually a downgrade. I’m ready to say it. Kemba Walker is better than Kyrie Irving.
This is a classic case of talent vs heart. Talent only loses to effort when talent doesn’t work hard. In the case of Kyrie Irving, I’m not sure how to describe him other than an injury prone, miserable, ball hog, flake. I’m just being honest. How can you defend Kyrie? It’s one thing to walk out on LeBron. A lot of people don’t want to play with him. It’s another to walk out on Brad Stevens, a winning culture, and all of these young chess pieces.
Kemba Walker has allowed the young guns to shine. Something he’s been a lot better at than I anticipated. Jayson Tatum has made a huge leap and is an All-Star. Jaylen Brown should have been an All-Star and has popped as well. Gordon Hayward looks like Gordon Hayward again. Everybody seems to look better. Don’t get me wrong, Horford and Rozier deserve blame. However, there has been no bigger improvement than swapping Kemba for Kyrie.
Kyrie is the more efficient player. He probably always will be. This one goes beyond the box score. How else can you describe what’s going on with Boston? Kemba works his tail off and will always be a closer. This is a guy who carried an okay UConn team to a national title. He’s also available to play most of the time. Can’t say the same for the other guy.
On the flip side, Brooklyn is worse with Kyrie. They’re actually better when he doesn’t play. Brooklyn is 8-12 when Irving plays. They are 17-16 when Irving sits. Now, it’s probably not fair to judge this team until Kevin Durant plays. Still, the Nets were an interesting team when D’Angelo Russell was there. They made Philadelphis sweat a little in the first round. This Nets team will get smacked by whoever they play with or without Irving.
Kemba is appreciative of this moment and opportunity. For years he was stuck in Charlotte playing with bums. The only difference is Kemba would never tell you that. Kyrie has been miserable every place he has played. He’s never happy. How do you quantify those things? All I know is that everybody on the Celtics looks better. Whenever Kemba isn’t on the floor, the offense doesn’t really click the same. I think we forgot how screwed the Celtics were at the start of the offseason. Kemba saved the franchise.
These next few years are going to be a make or break point. It’s impossible to not compare Kemba to Kyrie moving forward. Kemba’s reputation keeps gaining steam for the work he’s doing in Boston. Imagine if this team makes a run to the Finals? Irving will be looked upon as a fool for leaving that team. Kyrie’s reputation is hanging on by a thread. If he and Durant don’t do anything in Brooklyn, both of their legacies with be tarnished. More so, Irving for never being the best player on a championship team.
Irving has great stats across the board this year. He also never plays, never seems to have a positive impact on others, and is miserable all the time. There is a reason why Kemba Walker is an All-Star and Kyrie Irving is not. Maybe it’s just time to admit that Walker is better than Irving.
