Boston Celtics stud Kyrie Irving has one of the best handles in the league today. One particular NBA legend, five-time All-Star Tim Hardaway, agrees with this assessment, and even believes that Irving is a cut above the rest. According to the 51-year-old, what makes Irving stand out from the pack is his unrivaled shooting ability.

Hardaway is currently in the Philippines attending an NBA promotional event, and the five-time All-NBA team member spoke to Denison Rey A. Dalupang of PhilStar.com about his on admiration towards Irving.

Being himself one of the best ballhandlers of his generation, Hardaway was asked about how he feels about this era's standouts. The 14th overall pick of the 1989 Draft admitted to be a fan of several stars, but singled out Irving as his favorite.

“Kyrie Irving,” he shared. “Because he can make a shot.”

Hardaway went on to say that in this generation, there are some players who focus too much on ballhandling. He claimed that in his day, this was definitely not the norm.

“You know, a lot of [players] like dribbling too much instead of going straight to the rim and making the play. They dribble to shake somebody. You know, we [weren’t supposed] to dribble for 24 seconds,” he offered.

The former Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat star also believes that today's coaches are a bit too lenient when it comes to players who tend to overstate their ballhandling skills.

“[Coaches were] like, nah, you can’t dribble for 24 seconds. Or you’ll sit by us. Now, they let them dribble for 24 seconds. Sometimes they get a rebound, they drive for another 24 seconds,” he rued.

Having retired from the NBA 15 years ago, Hardaway truly played in a different time. A lot has changed in a decade and a half, and although most have turned out for the better, there are some, as Hardaway has pointed out, which have not.