KD says Kyrie is better than Allen Iverson

The Golden State Warriors claimed this year's championship title with virtually little opposition along the way, but the champs had one major roadblock that Finals' MVP Kevin Durant is still trying to figure out - Kyrie Irving.

Durant appeared on "The Bill Simmons Podcast" to talk about the road to his first ring. He praised the Cleveland Cavaliers' point guard, going as far as drawing a comparison between Irving and Allen Iverson.

From SLAM's Ryne Nelson, Durant told Simmons:

"Kyrie is better than A.I. (Iverson) to me. I'm going from like skill for skill. His handle is better. We might have to cut that out - I don't want no problems with A.I. Y'all might have to cut that one. I don't want that to get out. I'm just saying I feel like Kyrie got more skill."

Irving wowed with his 29.4 PPG in an aggressive 40-point performance on Friday that pushed the series to a Game 5. The 24-year-old was also the one to hit the 3-pointer that broke a tie in the final minute of last year's Game 7 and sealed the Cavs' title.

Durant says it's just fun to watch, and nothing like anything else he's ever seen:

I was telling some of my friends after Game 2, I was like, Kyrie, he just makes you happy when you watch him play. You just smile when you watch him play because for somebody to be that skilled, you know he had to work tirelessly at it. The stuff he has in his package is next-level stuff that you can try to teach your kids to do it, but you'll never be able to do it.

I've never seen somebody block his layup, and he's 6-2. I've never seen one person pin his layup on the glass - not one - because the spin he got on it and he don't have to look at it. I just got so much respect for him because I know how much work he put in to be that good. I never seen nobody like him.

KD later took to Twitter to clarify his stance:

Related: Iverson says KD was only reason he rooted for Warriors over Cavs