Dame and Kyrie share similar play, but are not the same player
Tom Haberstroh of ESPN said that Kyrie is more Damian Lillard than Kobe — in reference to Kobe-led teams following his breakup with Shaq.
"As a player, Thomas and Damian Lillard are probably the best comps for Irving, who has struggled to win as the guy."
He makes the reference several times, in fact:
"Irving might fancy himself as the next Kobe or Westbrook — alpha dogs who became MVPs after their co-star left the picture — but you can’t just ignore Irving’s losing track record as the No. 1 guy. The more realistic expectation is that he’s another Lillard."
Irving and the Cavs won 21 games in the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season — aka his first season in “the guy” role he so desperately wants.
Cleveland went on to win only 24 games in the non-shortened 2012-13 season. And he capped off his run as “the guy” with 33 wins in 2013-14.
Dame and the Blazers won 33 games his rookie season; yet, Lillard didn’t have the keys to the franchise. LaMarcus Aldridge was the roster’s clear-cut star.
In Dame’s rookie season, he scored 23.2 points per game, a then-career high. In Dame’s next season, Aldridge upped his career-high scoring average to 23.4.
It took until 2015-16 for Lillard to be “the guy” in Portland.
That season, Lillard took a completely revamped starting lineup to the first round of the playoffs — in the West (as a four-seed no less) — and even made it to the second round.
They won 44 games, one less than Irving’s first two seasons.
Yes, Lillard and the Blazers barely cracked .500 last season. But they’re playing in the earth-scorching West.
Yes, Irving only hit 19 in 2011-12, but what about the next two seasons? He had the advantage of playing in watered-down East on top of it. And, when LeBron sat the past three seasons, he went 4-13 in those 17 games (no more youth excuse, either).
Yes, Irving and Lillard are of a similar cloth as score-first point guards. But it was Dame who averaged a career-high 6.8 assist per game in his first “the guy” season. He even had 6.5 assists per game in his rookie season.
Irving has never averaged above 6.1 assists in his six seasons in the league.
So, comparing them is silly. They’re not really the same players. And they definitely don’t carry the same baggage, nor do they mean the same to their respective teams.
Yet ESPN Trade Machine heroes still add fuel to the fire.