"Mike and Pip?... Pip did have an offensive game, but Mike was just so great" - Tracy McGrady claims Kevin Durant and Kyrie are a more skilled duo than MJ and Pippen and LeBron James and D-Wade

The 2021-22 NBA season is putting on full display the spectacular offensive skills of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving as a duo for the Brooklyn Nets. With Irving finally allowed to play after the New York City Covid-19 rules eased, basketball fans are reminded of what he and KD can do as a pair.

Despite being the 7th seed in the loaded Eastern Conference, nobody in basketball will be surprised if the Brooklyn Nets can win it all. With Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving leading the way, the Nets will always have more than a puncher’s chance of going all the way.

Hall-of-Famer Tracy McGrady appeared on an episode of Club Shay Shay with three-time Super Bowl winner Shannon Sharpe to weigh in on the most-skilled duo ever debate:

“Without a doubt, without a shadow of a doubt. I haven’t seen a pair, a duo that skilled. Mike and Pip?... Pip did have an offensive game, but Mike was just so great, Pip did! He averaged 20 points… There’s no other dynamic that compares to KD and Kyrie. Even if you look at LeBron and D-Wade was. Skill-wise? They still not touchin’ them two boys.”

McGrady, at one point in his career, was considered the smoothest and most-skilled player in the NBA. His silky offensive repertoire and bag of tricks were arguably just as good as Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in his heyday, so he knows what he’s talking about.

The skill here would be the pure ability to get off a shot anywhere on the court and in so many different ways. To this point, McGrady’s analysis is on the dot. It’s for this reason that the Nets remain as one of the legitimate contenders despite their dismal record heading into the playoffs.

Being the best-skilled duo ever will mean nothing if Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving can’t drag Brooklyn to the title. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen romped to six titles, including two Grand Slams.

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade brought two championships to South Beach. For KD and Kyrie to truly make their status worthy in the most-skilled duo conversation, a championship will have to be their crowning achievement.

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Kyrie Irving carried the Brooklyn Nets while Kevin Durant struggled against the Boston Celtics

Only one of Brooklyn's superstar duo showed up in the Nets' Game 1 loss to the Boston Celtics. [Photo: Bleacher Report]

Game 1 between the Brooklyn Nets and the Boston Celtics at TD Garden had it all. It had Irving’s incredible fourth-quarter that only highlighted his contentious back-and-forth with Boston fans and a buzzer-beater by Jayson Tatum.

Taking a backseat to all of this was Kevin Durant, who only finished with 23 points on 24 shots. The Brooklyn Nets were outscored by 13 points in Durant’s team-high 41 minutes.

Head coach Steve Nash, however, isn’t losing sleep over a bad game from one of NBA history’s most unstoppable forces. No one’s betting against “The Slim Reaper” bouncing back in a big way in Game 2. When that happens and when Kyrie Irving keeps it going, the basketball world can sit back and watch what Tracy McGrady meant.