Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant
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Kyrie Irving’s take on late-game situations with the Brooklyn Nets contains a subtle jab at LeBron James.

Kyrie Irving is at it again. The Brooklyn Nets point guard is making headlines after his recent appearance on Kevin Durant‘s podcast The Etcs. Part two of their chat was released on Thursday and one question, in particular, is turning heads.

“It depends on who’s hot,” Irving responded when asked who will take the last shot on the Nets. “I don’t see it as anything other than that. Like, 1-3 pick-and-roll or it’s an iso for either one of us or it’s something great for our team.

“One thing I’ve always been comfortable with is I felt like I was the best option on every team I’ve played for down the stretch. This is the first time in my career where I can look down and be like, ‘That motherf—– can make that shot too!”

So, let’s talk about this for a second. First things first, it’s encouraging to hear Irving talk about how he and Durant will handle late-game situations. They’re both capable of hitting the big shot and they need to take what the defense is giving them. Pick-and-rolls between the two, isos, or whatever the case may be, the Nets have two closers.

The next part of the quote — and the one that is going to get tons of backlash — is a subtle dig at LeBron James. Let’s be clear, James is one of the all-time great closers in NBA history and the fact that he’s on the cusp of his fifth ring should be enough evidence.

Allow me to turn on my Kyrie Irving translator for a moment. I *think* he was trying to say that he’s never played with a scorer/shotmaker like Durant before. James can obviously score with the best of em, but he’s more of a facilitator late in games. For what it’s worth, Irving was the closer in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals.

With all that said, James was Cleveland’s No. 1 option with Irving as the No. 1A. Durant is the better pure scorer, but delegitimizing LeBron is silly.

NY/NJ hoops reporter (NBA/NCAA) & sports betting writer for XL Media. Never had the makings of a varsity athlete.