Who’s the better point guard: Damian Lillard or Kyrie Irving?
By Nate Mann
Damian Lillard and Kyrie Irving are premier point guards in the NBA. But who has the upper hand?
While Damian Lillard and Kyrie Irving are not rivals on the court, their individual stats are very similar. Limited head-to-head matchups between the two leave plenty of speculation as to who is the better point guard.
Let’s look at how they compare in a few categories.
Scoring
Since his sophomore season, Dame has averaged at least 20 points per game. Kyrie has done so in four of his six campaigns and is on track for a fifth.
Both guards posted career-highs in scoring last season, 27.0 for Lillard and 25.2 for Irving.
Playing alongside LeBron James and Kevin Love does hinder scoring opportunities. Even so, Kyrie had a slightly higher usage rate in 2016-2017 than Dame did (30.8 – 30.1).
While Lillard does most of his damage from deep, shooting 42% of his shots from three, Irving scores more efficiently down low. His ball handling skills are unmatched, and he finishes over 50% of his shots from within the arc.
In the end, Dame has the slight edge of pure scoring production, but Kyrie does so more efficiently.
Passing
Across his career, Damian Lillard averages 6.2 assists per game. Kyrie Irving averages 5.5. Only once has Dame dipped below six assists per night average, as Kyrie has only eclipsed that mark once.
With the higher passing numbers comes more turnovers for Lillard, but only marginally (2.8 versus 2.7). However, his assist-to-turnover ratio is better than Irving’s.
Dame is the better passer of the two.
Defense
Neither guard is known for their stellar defense.
Looking at the surface level of statistics, Kyrie consistently records more steals than Dame does. The same goes for defensive win shares – Lillard has the highest total in a single season out of the two (3.3), but Irving is steadier across his career.
Therefore, Kyrie Irving can be labelled the better defender, but certainly not a great one.
Health
Damian Lillard easily takes the cake in this category.
In five complete NBA seasons, he’s missed just 14 games total. A hamstring strain sidelined him for five matchups this season, but he’s avoided major injuries throughout his whole career.
Kyrie Irving, on the other hand, has struggled with injuries since his college days.
Playing just 11 total games at Duke, the Cavaliers bet on the young, injury-prone guard. While he played great for the franchise, he also missed 95 games through six seasons.
Team Success
Kyrie Irving won a championship in 2015-2016 and has been to the finals three straight seasons. This was with LeBron James though.
Still, he’s leading a depleted Boston Celtics squad to first place in the Eastern Conference. It’s difficult to gauge how much of a leader Kyrie can be, and to compare him with Dame in this sense.
Damian Lillard has only missed the playoffs once in his career. However, he’s never made it past the second round. The Blazers are not as strong of a team as the Cavs or Celtics, even before the roster flip in 2015.
But still, Kyrie will win the team success category behind that single championship.
Popularity
After the first release of All-Star votes, Kyrie Irving is the most popular guard in the league. He has over 800k votes, while Damian Lillard is approaching 200k.
Sure, Boston is a bigger market than Portland, but that discrepancy is due to more than where they play.
Kyrie is always making headlines, from saying the Earth is flat to not wanting to be LeBron’s teammate. Dame is an accomplished rapper and poster boy of the Northwest, but doesn’t receive the national attention Kyrie does.
And because of this, fans so quickly rank Irving ahead of Lillard among point guards.
Looking at these select categories, though, and the race is a lot tighter.
Next: Blazers prep for a stormy week ahead
Both are immaculate scorers in different ways. Dame is a better passer, while Kyrie is a better defender. Dame stays healthier, but Kyrie has played for better teams.
As a Blazers fan, of course I say Damian Lillard is the better point guard.
What I can say for certain is that Irving is not 600k votes better than Lillard. Yes, it’s a popularity contest, but Dame never gets the recognition he deserves.