Shannon Sharpe and Kendrick Perkins aren't my cup of tea, but they debated this interesting question. TL;DW Sharpe said Luka instantly becomes an all time legend and face of the league. Perkins said it's hard to say since it is a massive redemption story for Kyrie and now he is the actual leader of a title team.
I actually think I agree with Perkins here. Luka is going to be a top 3 player regardless and is still so young that if he doesn't win this year he will have plenty of opportunities. A Finals run alone is progress for his MVP case next year and he has answered a lot of the questions people had about him and his shortcomings like defense. A win makes him the face of the league but that's like going from #2 to #1, and he may already be doing that as we speak. Even if we lose to a stacked Boston team, Luka gritted out a huge run and elevated his defense to another level, silencing the haters as we went through a brutal schedule as perpetual underdogs.
While Luka is underrated and has a lot to gain legacy-wise from a title at such a young age, cementing his name in NBA history and beating LeBron and Jordan to their first (age-wise), Kyrie was so destroyed by his own antics he was left off the top 75 players in NBA history Select Team and his game became mostly forgotten about. He was seen as such a toxic asset we were given a D grade for acquiring him for one distant pick and two role players. Nick Wright, Luka's most vocal fan in the media, claimed Kyrie would be the reason Luka would leave Dallas and we wouldn't win. Kyrie had been blamed (fairly or not) for blowing up three consecutive contenders. And he was unfairly blamed for the Mavs missing the playoffs last year when we all know it wasn't his fault. Without another title, many people (especially younger ones) will remember him for his offstage antics and not as arguably the greatest ballhandler ever and one of the greatest shots in NBA Finals history.
Kyrie goes from total pariah and goofball back to legend and leader within one year, that's a much larger impact on legacy than Luka going from MVP candidate to face of the league.
But what do you think?
by devilmaskrascal
39 Comments
Kyrie has already redeemed himself. He has a ring and has already proved he’s clutch. It benefits Luka more than anybody. A ring at this age validates everything for him.
Kyrie, IMHO. Already has a ring. This solidifies his Legacy. But they both benefit. Luka will need to have a ring in order to be in the GOAT conversation. Without it, his Legacy will always have an asterisk.
Let’s just get to the finals please
Luka. By far. A title is the most obvious thing that separates him from all the other young “stars” that really don’t belong in the same conversation with him already.
Kyrie has already proven himself a champion. Sure it helps his legacy, especially after Boston & Nets, but it is not as critical as it is for Luka.
Dwight Powell.
Luka. Ring this young as the 1st option is nearly unheard of
Luka of course
Luka will benefit the most but Kyrie winning would be a better story. Everyone loves a good redemption arc.
I’ll tell you this though: both their legacies are screwed if they don’t finish off the Wolves. Gotta get the job done.
Matters more to Luka because to go up the all time ranks you need to win a lot. Kyrie winning the ring is still going to be “see, he can’t do anything without a generational #1 next to him” from a discrediting perspective and he will be associated positively with Luka’s first ring regardless.
Luka!
For Kyrie, he already has a ring and his personal accolades. His legacy as a player is already established. He is an all-time great. Every hit that Kyrie has taken over the last couple of years has been beyond basketball. This is more of a personal redemption for Kyrie. And win or lose, he has accomplished that. You can see that in the way the media is covering him now compared to last year.
For Luka, this kills the narrative that you can’t win a championship the way Luka plays. This kills the constantly trying to put other young stars over him. A ring would solidify him as the best player in the world at just 25 years old. And puts him on his way to being an all time great.
It benefits the Dallas Mavericks most.
I think it benefits each of those 2 guys the same – as well as being talked about as one of the best backcourts in history.
Let’s get the the WCF before worrying about championships and Legacys. Tonight will be tough without DLive and they will be desperate.
i just want them to shut up the doubters who think it’s impossible to win with the ball being in luka’s hands so much, and keep drawing harden parallels. (they’ve gone super quiet on that topic recently already)
Luka because he’d get a chip without leaving his team to go ring chasing
We win together and lose together. Narratives be damned
Not reading all that but to answer the title it’s clearly Luka
It’s close but Luka. WCF MVP, Finals MVP, and a ring makes him literally top 25 player all time at the age of 25. And even kyrie is the leader of the team “in experience wise”, it’s still luka’s team so idk.
Luka. Keep in mind… he just came in 3rd in MVP voting with statistically one of the best seasons in modern league history. He got put as the 4th best player 25 and under. He’s been routinely disrespected throughout the media and titles will always validate a career. Dirk was in the same spot until he won and now people view him as one of the greatest ever. He’s the Alpha on this team.
I think Kyrie is able to prove himself without a ring in a way that Luka cannot.
Kyrie looks better and better each day just by NOT doing anything ridiculous, by being a good leader, and with each nice thing his teammates and the Dallas media has to say about him.
Luka evidently is “shit until he wins a ring”???? Or something??? I don’t get it either.
Luka
Look what the raptor ring did for kawhi
Look how all the greats without a ring are looked (cuck, Malone, ewing, melo, Harden…)
It seems like he has time but careers can go fast. This can be it. Injuries bad luck wemby … who knows what time will bring
A ring will make luka prolly the greatest 25 year old ever, and no one will be able to doubt anything he does anymore
For kyrie, he will be what he is.
He has A ring as 2nd option, people will remember how great he had been. This finals won’t change that. If he does it again fine we will be remeberded but it’s not career defining I guess.
Luka by a mile. He needs a ring to be in serious conversation for best player in the world. A championship will validate his insane stats.
Kyrie’s legacy is already there both good and bad. The Mav’s success has already provided “redemption.” A championship will be the cherry for that story, of course, but the arc is already complete.
Mavericks legacy benefits. We get our 2nd with another magical run with Washington and Orlando considering giving us the Wizards and Magic names. Universal Studios Harry Potter would probably put up rides named after Luka and Kyrie.
I’d say that Luka benefits from it the most. Kyrie already has a title, so that’s not missing from his portfolio. Kyrie winning against the Celtics, and being a big piece of their dismantling, that would be his redemption. If course, we can’t count our chickens. We still have one to grab.
Luka. There are many great players in sports history who have never won a championship and always have an asterisk by their name. I don’t want Luka to be one of those. Kyrie already has one and even hit the big shot when he did win it. A second would be great for him, but..
Don’t say things like “will have plenty of opportunities” because those are not easy to come by. Just ask Luka’s son about choking in the Finals and since then, choking every where.
Luka. I see it really similar to Jokic winning his first last year and Giannis a couple years before. Remember how much it helped their legacy when they won? Luka winning would be huge. Kyrie already has a chip, outplaying Steph curry in 2016 so not as much for him but it would be nice. A win for Kyrie would probably lift him above Harden all time for good
Luka probly, he hasn’t won one before … gotta be able to prove he can contribute his part to a championship.
Kyrie would like to prove he can win without Lebron, but he already does have a championship – so not quite as much to prove.
If Luka wins he is going to be on goat trajectory.
It’s Luka.
You are way overrating the credit Luka will get without closing out this run. The guy was disrespected all year and you think he’s really going to garner *that* much more respect without winning it all?? Please.
Kyrie has already shown people he’s still an excellent 2 and a winning player, a win would just further reiterate that point.
Luka literally kills narratives about his entire playstyle if he wins.
Clearly Luka. Kyrie showed that when he has a dominant 1st option, he can be the best second option in the league, on a championship team. He would not erase or rewrite the Boston or Brooklyn story, as those are not really up to interpretation (at least not to *basketball* interpreation). On the other hand, nothing changes a players legacy and status as much as a ring while being a clear best player. Just think Olajuwon, Walton (RIP) vs Barkley, Ewing or even David Robinson. Getting it done at the age of 25 outs him in pursuit of Curry or Hakeem for the rest of his carrer, instead of Nash or Barkley.
This year is definitely Kyrie’s story arc.
TBH, it would organically benefit each other, as well as the entire franchise synergistically. For Luka, it would far and away cement him as the alpha-dog of the new generation( Ant, Jai Morant, Zion, SGA, etc), and for Kyrie it would further validate him as a “leader” and exorcize the demons of his career that had given him a checkered reputation as a team killer. Where the synergistic benefit comes in, they would feature a historical union that defied logic and conventional wisdom for some, demonstrating the Presti like genius of Nico Harrison, and the constant evolution of the once champion hall of famer, and would be 3X winner in Jason Kidd, making history by guiding a team to a title, after missing the playoffs completely, ironically when he won his second one as an assistant with the Lakers in ’20. This team is 2011 special.
Brooklyn destroyed themselves before he even did anything by being greedy. There was no need for them to trade for Harden.
Luka benefits the most and it’s not even close. Beating Tatum and Brown to a chip when they have had a year or 2 years more to do it and have been on a contender the entirety of their careers will cause huge separation between him and the rest of the young stars in the league.
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Could not care any less about what those two think
Kyrie is already a champion. Because of how great Luka is, he will always be seen a disappointment if he doesn’t win 1.
I thought Kyrie was top 75?
The Wolves for some reason scares me. Dallas need Lively back asap
Getting a head of ourselves but without a doubt Luka. No bigger accolade then wining the chip as the first option.
Luka, I think the first ring is ALWAYS more important than a 2nd ring, but a 3rd ring could be debated to be a bigger deal than your first ring, especially as the number one option.