Scoring is one of the most important art forms in the NBA because it wins games at the end of the day. Some players are so great at putting the ball in the basket that it doesn’t matter what defenses do to prevent them. Kyrie Irving is undoubtedly one of those players. However, his former Cavaliers teammate, J.R. Smith, doesn’t just believe Irving is an elite scorer, he believes the veteran guard is the greatest scorer of all time.
‘The greatest scorer of all time‘ debate usually involves players like Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Stephen Curry. In the eyes of J.R. Smith, all of these players pale in comparison to Irving.
Smith’s take was revealed in a behind-the-scenes footage from his interview on the ‘Million Dollaz Worth of Game’ podcast. The 2016 NBA Champion said,
“[Irving] is the best scorer I’ve ever seen in my life. There’s nothing as far as offensively, there’s nothing he can’t do with either hand. He can shoot left-handed, he can shoot right-handed. He can shoot mid-range, he can shoot threes, spot ups, off the dribble.”
He didn’t stop there, Smith continued,
“He’s got the best handles we’ve ever seen. He’s the best finisher under the basket we’ve ever seen by far… I mean he’s a 50/40/90 dude damn near every year. The only reason he’s not is because the shots he takes are tough shots.”
Irving finished in the 50/40/90 club once in his career in the 2020-21 season. However, it must be noted here that Steph Curry is also a member of that club and he’s the only player in history to achieve the feat averaging 30 points per game.
In terms of total points all-time, it’ll be difficult for Irving to reach Jordan’s 32,292 points. Kyrie has never led the league in scoring throughout his 13 years in NBA, but Smith claims that Irving’s ability to score in different ways elevates him as the best scorer ever.
He mentioned the 2016 NBA Champion’s elite use of his off-hand to score, which isn’t comparable to the likes of Jordan and Curry. Smith also prefaced his argument by underlining Irving’s ability to score underneath the basket.
Despite his 6-foot-2 stature, Irving shoots 61.8% on shots at the rim, which includes the shots he’s taking under the basket.
Smith has had the luxury of witnessing both Curry and Irving battle first-hand during the Warriors-Cavs rivalry of the 2010s. However, his argument has an interesting premise. It takes into account a player’s potential to score rather than his actual scoring.
Irving has a more diverse bag that both Curry and Jordan. However, he has never been the leading scorer of a Championship team like MJ and Steph have been. Kyrie did generate the all-important shot in the concluding minutes of the 2016 NBA Finals.
But it seems like a flawed approach to name someone the greatest scorer of all time just because of the diversity of their methods. Kyrie’s wizardry is unique no doubt, but a lot of it is to compensate for his lack of size. Therefore, that shouldn’t count as a metric to crown the world’s greatest scorer, especially since Kyrie has only scored 17,366 points and has never had a 30 ppg season in his life.
It seems a little bit of a stretch to declare him the greatest scorer ever. However, we can still admire Kyrie’s elite scoring.
Kyrie is a three-level scorer
What makes Kyrie such a great scorer is his ability to score on all three levels. Those different areas are scoring from the three-point range, mid-range and finishing at the basket.
Irving is an underrated mid-range jump shooter. The eight-time All-Star rightfully earns praise for his flashy passes and electrifying handles. However, he is a capable scorer within the perimeter.
In his career, Irving has shot 46.4% from the mid-range area. The statistics don’t take into consideration the degree of difficulty on the majority of shots that he takes and makes.
The debate of the greatest scorer of all time will never have a conclusive answer. The NBA has evolved, which means the methods of scoring are constantly changing.
It’s expected that J.R. Smith will have his teammates back. However, that’s not to discredit Irving, who is very much deserving of having his name mentioned alongside Curry and Jordan.