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.
Big Hairy Deal.
Pistol Pete Maravich could have beaten any human then walking the planet in a game of HORSE. He was a superstar from High School to the NBA, yet in more than 20 years of playing organized basketball never once was on a team that won a championship.
https://ifunny.co/picture/a-news-reporter-ask-mj-if-he-thought-the-bulls-TSnkC73K8
What an absolute LoL!
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