Is Kyrie Irving getting into the Hall of Fame?

If you were to ask the average NBA fan if Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets would one day make the Naismith Hall of Fame, most would likely say yes. After all, here is one of the more memorable players of the last 10 years of a league that just turned 75, and no matter what, he will be remembered for hitting the defining shot of Cleveland’s 2016 championship run.

This is despite it being the crowning moment in the career of LeBron James. That has to count for something. For those who don’t quite buy into the “ringzzz” culture, his case is still strong given his many individual accolades, impressive career statistics, and having one of the best handles of all time.

Let’s play devil’s advocate and try to argue the case against the Brooklyn Nets’ Irving.

Right off the bat, it is not easy. But if we can start in one area, it is that at 30 years old and since leaving the side of James, things have not gone smoothly for Irving. Two seasons in Boston with the Celtics (127 regular season games, nine playoff appearances) and three in Brooklyn (103 regular season games, 13 playoff appearances) have not gone particularly well.

Taking out the fact that Irving has missed so much time recently because of his stance on vaccines (that’s not going to have a bearing on his case when all is said and done), it is still an inescapable fact that the Celtics had deeper playoff runs both when he was injured and still on the team, and once he had left (they came within two games of a championship this season).

It has been widely accepted that Irving was at least partly responsible for James Harden’s wanting out of Brooklyn. Additionally, Kevin Durant, the guy who has had Irving’s back since day one and who he wanted to play with, wanted to be traded this off-season.

For those keeping track, he has failed to properly form a partnership with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and later with Harden and Durant. Irving played in this year’s playoffs, a 4-0 sweep by the Celtics in which he played in every game. Is it not concerning that, alongside a top-20 all-time player in Durant, the Brooklyn Nets and Irving went out with a whimper? Or can he turn that perception around?

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