Is Kyrie a Superstar?

Over the past year, Kyrie Irving has been starting to get more consideration as a star in his own right, instead of just being looked at as LeBron’s sidekick. Some people are even starting to put him in the superstar category.  He has definitely capitalized on his time in the spotlight during the NBA Finals and the Olympics. People define superstardom in different ways, but here are some of the arguments in favor and against Kyrie as a superstar:

Arguments in Favor

1. Kyrie is clutch.

Kyrie has always done a great job of hitting clutch shots since he entered the NBA in the 2011-2012 season. He has hit many game-winners, but has more recently taken his clutch shot-making ability to the next level. Most notably, Kyrie hit the huge three-pointer to give the Cavs the lead at the end of Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals, and he turned around and hit the game-winner against the Warriors on Christmas Day in Cleveland.

2. Stats

While his stats are not overwhelming, they are certainly in the upper-echelon for a 24-year-old in his 6th NBA season.  He has career averages of 21.1 points, 5.5 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.3 steals a game.  He has increased his points per game slightly this year as LeBron has started to trust him to be a bigger scorer and has settled into more of a facilitator role. He is also shooting 38% for his career from behind the arc and 40% this season which is a great asset to have alongside LeBron.

3. Notoriety/Celebrity

Kyrie has earned several awards during his time in the NBA which include Rookie of the Year in 2012 (even though he only played in 51 games because of injuries) and MVP of the 2012 All-Star Game.  He has his own signature Nikes which not many players can say, and he has his own character in Pepsi commercials named Uncle Drew.  His popularity started to soar with his big-time performance in the 2016 NBA Finals, and it increased right after that when he helped lead the US men’s basketball team to the gold medal in the 2016 Olympics as the starting point guard.  Just recently, he was named a starter for the 2017 NBA All-Star game ahead of fellow point guards Kyle Lowry, Isaiah Thomas, and John Wall in the East.

Arguments against

1. Kyrie is not the best player on his own team.

I don’t think many people would try to debate this point. LeBron is still in his prime, and many believe him to be the best player in the NBA right now.  However, you don’t have to be the best player on your team to be a superstar.  Kevin Durant is the best player on the Warriors, but Steph Curry, a two-time MVP, is still considered a superstar.  Likewise, Russell Westbrook is a superstar, and he played with Durant in Oklahoma City.

2. There are other point guards widely considered better than him.

Russell Westbrook and James Harden seem to be in a two-way battle for MVP as they fill up the stat sheet and keep posting triple-doubles at a remarkable rate.  There’s also Chris Paul, Damian Lillard, Kyle Lowry, and probably a few others that people will argue are better than Kyrie, and those people are right. At least some of those players are better than Kyrie, but there are a lot of good point guards in the NBA right now. The NBA is promoting stars rather than teams, and it is working with the younger generation like crazy. They are all choosing favorite stars and following them wherever they go, and most of these stars are point guards or ball-dominant wing players.  Kyrie is in this group, but the fact that he has a championship and a shoe deal with Nike makes him more visible and popular.

3. Kyrie is not a good defensive player.

Kyrie is not an exceptional defender, but he has improved over the last few years. Since LeBron returned, he has preached that championships don’t happen without hard work and dedication on the defensive end of the floor.  No one will confuse Kyrie for a defensive juggernaut, but he has bought in and is getting better one the defensive end of the floor. I also don’t think superstardom is about defense. The NBA markets offensive skills, dunks, and three-point shooting, and most of the players considered in the superstar category are not considered elite defenders. I don’t hear anyone talking about what a great defender James Harden is.

I don’t know if you define being a superstar as a player being the best at his position, the best of his era, or in terms of marketability and popularity, but Kyrie Irving has never been as much of a star before as he is now.