10 Years Later, I Wish We Got More Steph Curry vs. Kyrie Irving

Wow, time really does fly when you're getting old.

Believe it or not, this weekend marks the 10-year anniversary of the 2016 NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors, where the Cavs famously came back from down 3-1 to beat the Warriors. This series was the second edition of what eventually became four consecutive years of these teams meeting in the Finals.

And 2016 is obviously the most iconic installment of that rivalry. Forget about it being the only one the Cavaliers won; there were just so many iconic moments.

You had the historic 3-1 comeback, signature moments almost every game, and even controversy. Specifically when Draymond Green got himself suspended for Game 5 after his altercation with LeBron James in Game 4.

That Game 4 itself has kind of been lost to history, but if you go back and watch it, it's one of the better NBA games of the last decade, let alone one of the best games from the Cavs-Warriors rivalry. Then came the unforgettable performances: LeBron James and Kyrie Irving both dropping 41 points in Game 5, LeBron putting up another 41 in Game 6, and then, of course, Game 7 giving us The Block and Kyrie's shot to win the title for Cleveland.

But while the two main characters of this rivalry ended up being LeBron James and Steph Curry, I've started to think there was another rivalry within this rivalry that never got the appreciation it deserved.

Even after LeBron left Cleveland in 2018 to join the Lakers, the rivalry with Steph continued. We got one more playoff series between them in 2023 when the Lakers beat the Warriors in six games in the Western Conference semifinals. The NBA still tries to capitalize on that matchup whenever it can, putting the Lakers and Warriors on Christmas or other marquee stages because they know we aren't going to get many more LeBron versus Steph battles.

But the more I've thought about it, the more I believe the point guard matchup within this rivalry should have been much bigger than it was.

Stephen Curry versus Kyrie Irving should have been one of the more defining rivalries of their era.

Or at least way more than it was.

I don't even think it's a controversial take to say that, from around 2016 through probably 2024, Curry and Irving were the two most skilled point guards in basketball. There are obviously other great names you could throw into the conversation, like James Harden, Chris Paul or Russell Westbrook, but when we're talking pure skill, I think those two stood above the rest from their era.

As ball handlers, Kyrie probably gets the slight edge. Steph, though, is still one of the greatest ball handlers the game has ever seen, and that's somehow become one of the most underrated parts of his game because everyone focuses on the shooting and limitless range. Kyrie is just even more ridiculous with the ball in his hands.

As shooters, Kyrie could absolutely light it up... Just nowhere close to Steph's level, because nobody has ever shot the ball quite like Curry and probably never will, but Kyrie was still elite.

Irving, though, is still one of the most clutch shot-makers of his generation and in the game today. If you're doing a Mount Rushmore of players you'd trust to take the final shot of a game, Kyrie still has an argument to be on it.

After leaving Cleveland in 2017, though, Kyrie's reputation took a hit. His time leading teams in Boston and Brooklyn obviously didn't work out the way people expected, and those situations blew up for different reasons. It wasn't until he got to Dallas and helped lead the Mavericks to the NBA Finals in 2024 that people started appreciating him again.

But I think that stretch of his career made a lot of people forget just how great he actually was at his peak. I genuinely believe there's an argument that he was the second-most skilled point guard of his generation behind Steph.

That's why it's disappointing that we never got more playoff battles between them.

We really only got two.

The 2016 Finals and the 2017 Finals, and even 2017 feels different because Kevin Durant entered the picture and changed the dynamic completely. I can't help but think about alternate scenarios. What if Kyrie's Celtics had met the Warriors in the Finals? What if he had guided that core to that stage? I think it could have changed the way people viewed his career and his rivalry with Curry, who was the best guard of their era.

Because if you take LeBron and Steph out of the equation for a second and just focus on Kyrie versus Steph, that matchup was incredible. Neither guy could really guard the other. They both had the ability to go for 40 points on any given night. They could have traded iconic performances against each other for years on the biggest stage.

Looking back on it now, it's kind of sad. As I've said, I really do think they were the two most skilled point guards in the NBA for at least half a decade, and we didn't get nearly enough playoff series featuring them going head-to-head.

As Steph enters his late 30s and Kyrie works his way back from a torn ACL, it feels like that window has officially closed. I just wish that during their primes we had gotten more of those iconic battles between the two of them.

Because I really do think it's a rivalry that's going to get lost to history.

And I think it would have been special.