Kyrie Irving does not need the shadows of LeBron James to surface the light of an NBA title
Can Kyrie Irving breakup with LeBron James, and the Cleveland Cavaliers to win an NBA Finals title as the leading man of an NBA franchise?
In Irving’s sixth NBA season, he posted a career high average of 25.2 points, shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc while dishing out 5.8 assists per game in 72 games during the 2016-17 season.
I believe that the four-time NBA All-Star can already see eye-to-eye against elite NBA point guards, such as Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, John Wall, and Damian Lillard, all of whom are viewed as franchise leading players.
Many critics insinuate that Irving can't be the leading man of an NBA title contender because all he does is score buckets, but he doesn't make the players around him better.
Those critics are dead wrong because that's like saying NBA Hall of Fame player, Allen Iverson was never a franchise player because all he did was score 26.7 points per game in 17 seasons during his NBA career.
Iverson and Irving are similar players, for they are both offensive juggernauts with ankle breaking handles, who happen to be shooting guards in a point guard's body, yet can take over a game faster than Usain Bolt traces footprints on the surface of a 100-meter dash.
Although Irving is not a pass first point guard, however, his dynamic scoring ability draws a number of double teams from opposing defenses, which spaces the floor and creates open shots for his teammates.
Irving not only has the explosive offensive arsenal of weapons as an Iverson but is a better dead-eye marksman from beyond the arch than Iverson, thus far in his career:
NBA career three-point percentages:
Irving: 38 percent
Iverson: 31 percent
Just imagine how different Iverson’s career would have been if two-time NBA All-Star, Jerry Stackhouse never got traded from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Eric Montross, Theo Ratliff, and Aaron McKie in the 1997-98 season.
Many critics may have had more questions for "The Answer" of whether or not he could be a franchise player.
Iverson and Stackhouse were both talented rising stars at the time, however, both of them did not want to share the limelight, so one of them had to go.
Ego and age tend to be the organic characteristics that attribute to the breaking up of groups, such as why many musical bands and sports duos break up.
Look at all dynamic duos in NBA that broke up, such as Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant on the Los Angeles Lakers, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen on the Chicago Bulls, and even Karl Malone and John Stockton after 18 long years of pick and roll basketball on the Jazz.
As former Cleveland Cavaliers general manager, David Griffin suggested, Irving who is only 25 years old just needs a chance to prove himself, stepping out of James' shadow while he's still in the prime of career.
After three NBA Finals appearances from 2015-17, Irving has raised his game to super-stardom, averaging 27.7 points, 4.2 assists, and just under 40 percent from beyond the arc in 13 games.
If you still doubt that Kyrie has the clutch gene ability to lead a team to a title just visualize the 2016 NBA Finals, and turn the clock back to:
Game 7: 53 seconds.
I REST MY CASE