LeBron James. Good basketball player, right? Well, maybe in 5-on-5 action. He’s proved that by putting together a career that has him widely recognized as either the best or second-best player in NBA history. But what if he were to play 1-on-1 against some other people in the NBA?
Tracy McGrady knows what would happen and it’s not pretty for James.
“If you put him in 1-on-1?” McGrady said on the Makeshift Project podcast. “I think he’ll get crushed. Yeah, I think he’ll get crushed amongst guys that are actually in the NBA. And I’m sure LeBron would tell you that. Because his game is naturally built for 5-on-5.”
“If you put him in one-on-one? I think he’ll (LeBron) get crushed. Yeah, I think he’ll get crushed — amongst guys that are actually in the NBA. And I’m sure LeBron would tell you that. Because his game is naturally built for five-on-five.“
– Tracy McGradyOne of the greatest… pic.twitter.com/H9T96hchV8
— Jacob (@Jacobtheclipper) April 3, 2025
Podcast episodes must be recorded and the content churn stops for no one.
Still, this feels like a pretty surprising thing to say. Allow us to offer some healthy skepticism that James himself would tell you that the average NBA player would torch him mano a mano. That is something that is very hard to imagine him saying.
Yes, he’s a tremendous passer and excels at team basketball. Yet he is also 6’9″ and 250 pounds with quickness few 40-year-olds possess. He’s been getting the types of buckets required to win in 1-on-1 for decades with hard drives and low-post moves. He’s also not a terrible outside shooter. More than that, he’s quite competitive.
There’s only one way to put this to bed and it’s a 1-on-1 tournament at the next NBA All-Star Weekend. Even a year from now, James does not seem like an easy out.
