Is Kyrie a superstar? (poll)

[ETNCeltics]

I'd put Kyrie somewhere between the 15th and 20th best player in the league in the league.

IMO, the "superstars" are Kawhi, Lebron, Durant, Curry, AD, and Westbrook. I don't think of the next tier of players as superstars. It's a term I use restrictively. I think that label should be reserved for the Kobie Bryants, Lebron James, Michael Jordans and Larry Birds of the game.

[droopdog7]

An unrelated, but interesting aspect of the superstar idea is what consumers and marketers believe.

Uncle Drew (PEPSI) is a great campaign. Kyrie's Nike sneaks are the top, or among the top sellers.

In the national view, franchise players don't really get that attention. Superstars do.

Clearly, this has nothing to do with advanced metrics but his skills resonate will fans. IT will be sorely missed. Kyrie will be interesting to have in green.

This is a great point and something that crossed my mind.  And I don't think it's unrelated at all.  Who are the guys with national level shoes?  Durant, Lebron, curry are at the top.  Then I argue kyrie is next.  I don't think that's meaningless.  Dude is a star.

[smokeablount]

He’s not a surefire top 15 player. I have (in no particular order)

Lebron
Kawhi
Durant
Giannis
PG13
Curry
Westbrook
Harden
CP3
Wall
Butler
Davis
Cousins
Towns

All above him. That’s 14 players. So for the 15th spot I think he’s fighting with Lillard, who I think are really similar players. But that’s not even mentioning Derozan, Hayward, Griffin, and Gobert who I could potentially see someone taking over Kyrie.

Edit: Add in Klay and Draymond who are guys you could potentially argue for over Kyrie.

Cousins - was on bad Kings teams and NO got worse post-trade while the Kings got better. Can't put him above an NBA champ alpha who was all star game MVP at 21.

Butler - He's a very good 2 way player but if he doesn't put up 25-5-5 on Minny and lead them to the WCF, then he can't do what Kyrie did this year and isn't better either. Don't believe he ever made the ECF in a weak East even on his pretty [dang] stacked Bulls teams.

Towns - if you plan on keeping Kyrie out for his poor D then you'll have to keep Towns out too. Towns hasn't even played on a .500 team yet. So no for him.

Giannis - probably will pass Kyrie in the next 2-3 years but so far he's had only one year of monster stats and never gotten out of the first round. Nope.

PG13 - He had him in the past but PG13 put up worse stats as the undisputed alpha on the 7th seed in a crap conference. When he was a top 8-10 player he had an insane amount of help. Can't say he's clearly better until he regains his old form.

CP3 - I love CP3 but he's pretty old now and we're comparing an NBA champ who might be the most clutch player in the league to a guy who has been amazing but has choked in the playoffs and never been to a conference finals. I'd say this is debatable in 2017-18.

None of the guys not on your official list are better than Kyrie.

If these revisions are accepted, that puts Kyrie in the top 9-10. If you wanna say there are only 5-6 superstars then no he isn't, but he's absolutely a franchise guy as a top 10 player in a league with 30 teams.

[CelticsElite]

An unrelated, but interesting aspect of the superstar idea is what consumers and marketers believe.

Uncle Drew (PEPSI) is a great campaign. Kyrie's Nike sneaks are the top, or among the top sellers.

In the national view, franchise players don't really get that attention. Superstars do.

Clearly, this has nothing to do with advanced metrics but his skills resonate will fans. IT will be sorely missed. Kyrie will be interesting to have in green.

This is a great point and something that crossed my mind.  And I don't think it's unrelated at all.  Who are the guys with national level shoes?  Durant, Lebron, curry are at the top.  Then I argue kyrie is next.  I don't think that's meaningless.  Dude is a star.

Nike only has like 5 shoe lines at a time. So I agree it's a big deal that kyrie shoe says a lot about his star power

He will attracts free agents, he's one of the big faces of the NBA.

[RockinRyA]

Cousins is not a modern center. Too much low post game

The pelicans were better when he goes off the floor

If you think Cousins is just a low post player you should seriously watch him.

[gouki88]

Cousins is not a modern center. Too much low post game

The pelicans were better when he goes off the floor

If you think Cousins is just a low post player you should seriously watch him.

Seriously.

How many players who rely too much on their low post game take 5 3PA's per game? Zero.

[LilRip]

Kyrie is a superstar. Dude is a problem, even with the best perimeter defenders in the league draped all over him (AB and Smart).

He hasn't won much in his career but not many guys have won a lot at age 24 and below.

[Androslav]

Our league-wide feared defensive guards (AB and Smart are surely that) stifled Kyrie to 26 PPG on 62% FG and 50% 3FG%.
And that was with the series being somewhat close only once, at 1:2 when we were dangerous to take the 4th game. But then Kyrie took over things in the 3rd and resolved the winner.
I love my Celts, but the tape doesn't lie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e8E9CFOqrY&t=229s

[moiso]

I'd put Kyrie somewhere between the 15th and 20th best player in the league in the league.

IMO, the "superstars" are Kawhi, Lebron, Durant, Curry, AD, and Westbrook. I don't think of the next tier of players as superstars. It's a term I use restrictively. I think that label should be reserved for the Kobie Bryants, Lebron James, Michael Jordans and Larry Birds of the game.

Agree with this.  Irving is a star player.  One demensional.  To me a superstar is at the least a top 5 player in the league.  If a player is flashy and sells sneakers at a high rate is not relevant to that.

[Androslav]

IMO, Kyrie is top 3 of the worlds most unstoppable scorers. He is in Durant and Harden (KI has a better-looking shot)/Curry (KI has much better driving/finishing) company in that regard. We can say he is 20th best, sure, that GH, Jimmy, and PG are more complete 2-way players and such, but the guy can just get buckets and the game is about pulling the orange ball through the orange rim. The top 20 list is useless when he dribbles the key playoff possession and the defense is nervous. The Horfords, Morrises, and Smarts will take care of the intangibles Kyrie lacks. Just as they were covering for IT's apparent weaknesses.

[KG Living Legend]

Kyrie is a superstar. Dude is a problem, even with the best perimeter defenders in the league draped all over him (AB and Smart).

He hasn't won much in his career but not many guys have won a lot at age 24 and below.

 Hasn't won much? He got a ring before LeBron or Jordan ever did.

[Androslav]

With more than 80% of the voters agreeing that Kyrie is a superstar, we can safely say it is a common knowledge that he is a one.

[Celtics4ever]

We know  he can be a Robin but can he be a Batman?

[Roy H.]

We can he can be a Robin but can he be a Batman?

That's the key question.  The game is a lot easier with LBJ on your team.

[Moranis]

We can he can be a Robin but can he be a Batman?

That's the key question.  The game is a lot easier with LBJ on your team.

Statistically he wasn't that much different without James and that was his first 3 years in the league.  He should be a better player entering his 7th season then he was then.

The real question I've always had with players like him, is can you really win with someone who just doesn't care about defense, and in that I think the answer is no.  as we have seen that time and time again throughout league history.  The players that win and win a lot are great 2 way players and are on teams with other great players.  That is why he is a superstar, but he isn't a franchise player.

That said, Hayward can be a great 2 way player, so add those 2 to Brown, Tatum, and the LAL pick and I think Boston could have a real and legit contender at some point in the next couple of seasons (just not this year).