As a guest on The Bill Simmons Podcast, Kevin Durant revealed the time he realized just how good Kyrie Irving is.
It was during last year’s NBA Finals, when Durant says the Warriors had to be completely locked in to overcome Irving and the Cavs:
We had to be on point with those dudes. If we weren’t, we were going to lose the game. That’s how talented Kyrie Irving [is]—he made me a believer last year. I liked Kyrie, but when we played against him, I’m like, ‘Oh shit. This guy is a king hooper.’
…
Kyrie, playing against him in the Finals made me realize how damn good he is. When we played against them, I knew we couldn’t just come out there and just dick around. We had to play the game.
Irving, a five-time All-Star, averaged 29.4 points, 4.4 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per game in the series.
