Kyrie Irving has spent more than a decade establishing a 23.7-point-per-game and 5.6-assist-per-game career average along with just one championship ring in his career. But now, one of his former competitors thinks his résumé can overshadow Michael Jordan’s under other conditions.
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Former NBA player Jeff Teague, who won his first NBA Championship ring with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021, made a daring statement about Kyrie Irving on a recent podcast.
Teague said on the Club 520 Podcast, “I don’t think we’ll ever see anybody like Kyrie Irving in the NBA ever again. I feel like if Kyrie Irving was 6’6″, I know we said that about a lot of people, but if he was 6’6″, oh my god, he would have been the best NBA player ever. He would have been better than Michael Jordan.”
This assertion is credible since Irving’s playing caliber has not been contested by even his opponents. Irving’s statistics also support part of the assertion since he has a 39.1% shooting record from three and 88.4% from the free-throw line, better than Jordan’s career statistics.
Still, Jordan’s résumé remains historic by any measure. He averaged 30.1 points per game across his regular season career, claimed ten scoring titles, and collected five MVP awards along the way.
Teague’s comment did not arrive out of nowhere. It followed a separate moment where Irving himself opened up about his legacy during a livestream session.
Irving pulled up his own highlight tape and told viewers, “Y’all will never see another player like me, ever. And I’m fine with that. But you will see somebody better, for sure. I’m cut from a different cloth.”
That kind of self awareness fits Irving’s reputation as one of the most technically gifted ball handlers the league has produced. His isolation numbers support that reputation in a concrete way.
Kyrie has averaged between 1.10 and 1.36 points per possession while playing in isolation plays throughout several seasons. Scoring at least 1.00 points per possession is regarded as being among the elite players, while scoring more than 1.15 is historic.
These types of numbers go a long way in explaining how a player like Teague can draw any sort of comparison to Jordan despite their significant statistical differences.
The timing of this conversation becomes important considering that Irving is at this stage of his career. He is recovering from an ACL injury during an important season for himself.
Dallas will play its opening game of the 2026-27 season on October 21 against the Houston Rockets. This will be Irving’s first game since undergoing ACL surgery last year.
He rejoins the Mavericks’ team which is currently coached by Dusty May in charge of the team for the first time, unlike in past years where expectations were high.
That entire outlook may change based on how Irving physically appears when the games start. His combination with fellow young player Cooper Flagg is another aspect to consider.
Irving is likely to be Flagg’s first choice as the perimeter playmaker, which may determine his freedom on the court in future games.
Teague’s comments won’t be in the news for long, but there is some truth to what he’s saying regarding Irving. Very few athletes are compared to Jordan in any way.
Regardless of whether Irving believes in such labeling, it is evident that he does not see himself following in anyone’s footsteps.