Posted on 04/05/2025 1:34:23 PM PDT by nickcarraway
McGrady doesn’t view LeBron in the same category as Kobe or Kyrie.
He didn’t rely on orchestrated plays or structured offensive sets. His game was built for the playground, for the rawest form of basketball. A man against another, with nothing between them but space and opportunity. It was an art form, and McGrady mastered it.
A different kind of player
For over a decade, T-Mac was among the paragon of one-on-one scorers. A two-time scoring champion, a seven-time All-Star, a Hall of Famer with a signature game that blended finesse and force. He thrived in isolation, where creativity dictated survival and where hesitation was the quickest way to defeat.
“It’s hard to decipher that, man,” McGrady, one of a handful of players to average 32 points per game in a single season, said when asked to name the best one-on-one player in NBA history. “If you look at LeBron [James], I think LeBron has been amazing for 22 freaking years. He’s been the best basketball player for God knows how long.”
McGrady wasn’t dismissing LeBron James’ greatness. Few would. The mythic James, aiming for an unprecedented 21st consecutive season of 25 points per game, has ruled the NBA for over two decades, molding himself into an all-time force and the league’s greatest scorer. But the retired high-flyer wasn’t talking about five-on-five basketball. He wasn’t talking about leadership, vision or the ability to elevate a team. This was about one thing: isolation dominance. And in that world, he sees only a few names at the top.
“If you put him in one-on-one, I think he’ll get crushed,” the two-time scoring champ said. “I think he’ll get crushed amongst guys who are actually in the NBA, and I’m sure LeBron will tell you that.”
James, after all, is the most prolific scorer the league has ever seen, with more points than Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kobe Bryant. He’s the only player ever to eclipse 50,000 career points in the regular season and playoffs. But for many, it’s the method of scoring that defines a true one-on-one savant.
“His game is naturally built for five-on-five,” the 6'8'' forward opined. “He’s not a one-on-one basketball player. Kobe is a one-on-one basketball player, Kyrie is a one-on-one basketball player, James Harden. These guys are one-on-one basketball players. LeBron can’t do anything with that.”
The art of isolation
It’s a distinction rooted in style, not skill. The four-time champion has the numbers, the accolades, the longevity. But one-on-one basketball is about the ability to get a bucket against anyone, anywhere, with nothing but instinct and skill to rely on.
Bryant made a living off contested fadeaways, impossibly tough jumpers and footwork that turned defenders into statues.
Kyrie Irving, even at 33 years old, is a wizard with the ball, capable of breaking down any opponent in front of him.
James Harden, a revolutionary perimeter player who for years exhausted the rulebook, can put a defender in a blender with nothing but a step back and a change of pace.
James dominates in transition, exploits mismatches, picks defenses apart with vision few have ever possessed. He controls the tempo of a game like a conductor leading an orchestra, making the right play at the right time. His passes epitomize precision. He’s a freight train in the open court, an unselfish superstar who thrives in making his teammates better.
One-on-one vs five-on-five greatness
Some players are meant to control an entire game, while others are built to dominate in isolation. The rarest players can do both.
"The King," the league’s oldest active player, can score, but scoring — even he’ll tell you — isn’t his first instinct. He is wired to create, to read the floor, to make the right basketball play — something he’s chronically been criticized for. It still hasn’t deterred him.
That’s what has made him one of the most unselfish superstars the game has ever encountered. Bron can attack when needed, but he thrives on options, on manipulating defenses.
In a five-on-five game, that’s invaluable. That’s why James has four rings, why he’s been the face of the NBA for two decades, why he has outlasted nearly every one of his peers.
I remember….
Last I heard he was coaching in the WNBA. He was An NBA anomaly - a big white guy from an affluent background who worked his way to and excelled in the NBA.
I’m glad others remember; I truly am.
Good times.
God bless!
And fit in with the Bad Boy Pistons….
You too!
Yes. Despite how much he made, he said he was the only one, among those getting the bigger bucks in the NBA, who was making less money than his father was.
Hahahahaha that is hilarious!
I dislike him for being a tool of the ChiComs.
of course no one is going to confuse the PGA Tour with the NBA but still quite an achievement…. He’s playing in The Master’s next week.
Mr. Softie would try to play defense, flop, and it’d be over.
I’ll check that out.
Interesting.
Put Bird on those Laker teams or Magic on those Celtic teams and there would have been no point in holding the playoffs. Everyone would know who was going to win.
🤣🤣
Mr. McFLOP!!!
But he's not really a winner. Three championships (the one in the bubble didn't count)
Give me a superstar who is the consummate team player over a selfish one-on-one player. no matter how good he is, any day of the week.
He is? I think he only has one year left on his contract.
Why would he resign with the Lakers when they stole $116M from him? And their GM, Rob Pelinka, trashed him, saying he was too big a risk , he might not even be able to play five more years.
Dennis Rodman said he learned how to rebound from Laimbeer. He said he asked Laimbeer, because he could only jump an inch, but was a great rebounder.
I remember those precious days with my dad. Good for you.
Rodman, greatest rebounder of all time.
7 straight years most for rebounding.
It was the addition of Horace Grant, an excellent rebounder in his own right, as well as a decent scorer, whom, added to Pippen and Jordan, I think is what finally got the Bulls past the Celtics and Pistons in 91.
I get a “kick” out of it too. Ba-Dum Tiss.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.