Boston Celtics' point guard Isaiah Thomas has a blog post up on The Players' Tribune in which he names his top 5 current elite ball handlers of the NBA. To no surprise, the Cleveland Cavalier's Kyrie Irving is on that list, and it's largely because of the intensity of his deadly crossover:
Kyrie lives laterally. He goes side to side at such a high level it's hard for defenders to keep up. He's right in front of you, then he's not, and it all starts with the crossover. It's the same move every point guard has in his arsenal.
His is just better.
Don't get me wrong, he has a lot of other moves, too. He's kind of like Jamal Crawford in that you never really know what he's gonna pull out. But when it comes to being in isolation, if you're guarding him, you can count on seeing that crossover more than a few times. It's his bread and butter.
Throw in the fact that he can shoot at a high level or finish at the basket as good as anybody, and you're definitely ending up in a highlight reel when you're guarding Kyrie, because you will get crossed.
Good luck.
It's true, ya know.