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The NBA's 75th Anniversary Team did not include Kyrie Irving, which sparked a lot of chatter in the league.
A significant portion of the basketball community doesn't think Irving deserves to be on it. But those who do, now have added evidence for Irving's case to be one of the NBA's 75 greatest. The NBA's official website (NBA.com) uploaded a video titled 'NBA 75: Kyrie Irving | Brooklyn Nets', but later deleted it.
A lot of fans didn't believe that at first, but it's certainly true. The Brooklyn Nets section of the NBA.com website uploaded a highlight reel tributing Kyrie Irving's game. But when you click on the link now, it shows an error.
The '404 Error' indicates that the entire page was taken down, and not just the video. The page reads: "Why don't you try again by checking out our homepage or go straight to our schedule page to see when the Nets play their next game".
Kyrie Irving was allegedly taken off the NBA's top 75 list
!["NBA 75 Nets" Google search result [Search Engine and Screenshot: Google]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/10/bd5b0-16351723154864-1920.jpg)
As the page has been taken down, the only way to access a thumbnail of the video is through a google search of 'NBA 75 Nets'. You will notice video thumbnails of Kevin Durant and James Harden as well, titled the same way. When you click on either of those two links, there is a dedicated page with the two superstars' highlight reels.
(Note: There is a possibility that Google might fix this, and the thumbnail and search result might disappear even on the search tab, as the page doesn't exist.)
There is very little explanation for the deletion of Irving's video, though. Many members of the NBA 75th Anniversary team didn't get a video for themselves. The NBA certainly didn't spend time making a highlight video and uploading it under 'NBA 75" for someone who was not going to make the list. One possibility is that Irving made an initial draft of the list, but was removed for the final count, but that doesn't explain the video's upload and its subsequent deletion.
We doubt the NBA is going to bother with any sort of official explanation, and unfortunately, this case will just be left up to speculation. However, rumors suggest that the NBA removed Irving's video due to his antics this season about not getting vaccinated and leaving his team. Many rumors also seem to imply that Damian Lillard only made the cut because Kyrie Irving was removed in the first place.
Andre Iguodala tweeted saying that Irving is top 20 in NBA history, something that was met with a lot of slander.
Kyrie Irving's idiosyncrasies have always painted him as a toxic locker-room presence. His stance on the vaccine, refusal to talk to the media and calling them pawns, randomly disappearing from games without even informing his coach and teammates, and several such incidents may have led the NBA to not include him in its 75th Anniversary Team.
But does Kyrie Irving deserve to be on the list, to begin with? Let's take a look at the Brooklyn Nets guard's stats. He has a career average of 22.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.4 blocks per game. He has a career win share of 68.7 in his ten-year career, which ranks 220th-best in NBA history. For context, Stephen Curry has 112.73 win shares in his 13-year career, 56th-best in NBA history, while Lillard has 92.54 win shares in his nine-year career.
If we take a look at his accolades, Kyrie Irving has never been named to an All-NBA First Team in his career, though.
He has never been regarded as the best point guard or shooting guard in the league at any given time. Although he is a seven-time All-Star, he has been selected to an All-NBA team just thrice - once in the All-NBA second team and twice in the All-NBA Third Team. Irving was the 2012 Rookie of the Year and an NBA champion with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.
Kyrie Irving has never been an MVP finalist in his career, and wasn't a Finals MVP finalist in the 2016 Finals too. So it's increasingly difficult to make a case for someone to be one of the NBA's 75 greatest players if they are without a single MVP award or even an All-NBA first-team selection.
If one goes by the eye test, Uncle Drew ticks all the boxes, though. There is no denying the fact that Kyrie Irving is an absolute show stopper on the court, thanks to his ball-handling prowess and finishing wizardry. Nevertheless, he doesn't have the longevity stats or individual accolades to make that exclusive group.
Guess the Lakers players!
