pick two players to make the finals.

I don't see how anyone consistently beats KD in 1v1 competition.

5 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

I don't see how anyone consistently beats KD in 1v1 competition.

MJ and Larry have that psycho competitive gear…but i tend to agree.

Jordan/KD. 

Can’t fill out poll. I don’t see Cooper Flagg as an option. 

I think someone like young Hakeem Olajuwon or David Robinson would be tough. Both were great defenders and had the quickness to somewhat stay with guys like Bird or Jordan. But they would murder the smaller players down low.

Wilt Chamberlain would also be a handful. Dude was so athletic. There are players I would take in a team game over Wilt, but 1:1 he would be a problem.

Heard more than one modern media guy say KD would win.  

I think it depends on matchups. If KD was matched up with Olajuwon, he probably gets beat. Hakeem would be able to defend KD, but KD would get abused by Hakeem.

If KD matched up with say Curry, he probably wins due to his length.

But if Curry was matched with Olajuwon, Curry might win because he would kill Hakeem with the 3s.

So really I guess the question is… who would win the most matchups. Because there is a bad matchup for everybody.

Shaq gets stopped by whom?

4 minutes ago, Iceman said:

Shaq gets stopped by whom?

Hakeem

Not "stopped", but contained and outscored.

 

3 minutes ago, DFW Horn said:

Hakeem

Not "stopped", but contained and outscored.

 

May want to look up their h2h stats.  Shaq crushed him.  Prime Hakeem scored vs 22 year old Shaq but he couldn’t stop him either.  Hakeem jacked up shots James harden style.  Shaq won every other statistical category

 

also may want to look up Hakeem vs robinson stats

To the point upthread, all of those stats are in a team game.  I'm willing to concede that Dream could stop Shaq, but I'd like to see it.

I just thought it strange that one of the toughest matchups( Shaq) in NBA history wasn't even mentioned in the thread.

 

and FTR, I like Dream way the hell more that I ever liked Shaq as a player; but was thinking about it objectively if the Big Diesel got going.  You'd have to get him at the top of the key and stop the possession itself before he got down on the block.  Hakeem's hands would be a problem for Shaq there.

Edited April 21, 20251 yr by Iceman

Just now, Iceman said:

To the point upthread, all of those stats are in a team game.  I'm willing to concede that Dream could stop Shaq, but I'd like to see it.

 

He didn’t in a team setting and I think it’d be worse one on one

Accidentally voted Giannis instead of other. I know this won't be a popular pick, but strictly in a game of 1-1 not many guys are going to stop Kyrie. 

9 minutes ago, ITHorn said:

Accidentally voted Giannis instead of other. I know this won't be a popular pick, but strictly in a game of 1-1 not many guys are going to stop Kyrie. 

Heard he beat KD in practice

Not just the GIF, but AI would be formidable, as well.

Shaq vs AI would be entertaining to watch.

zero votes for steph or larry. that’s surprising. last was my third behind mj and kd.

14 hours ago, Iceman said:

Shaq gets stopped by whom?

The free throw line. 

shaq can’t guard a bunch of guards/perimeter players over and over throughout a tournament. any savvy guard will try to run him ragged, and long shots make long rebounds. if shaq decides to just post up in the paint then you can just shoot and rebound him to death. he’s a really bad matchup for the smaller guys, but lebron or even KD could sufficiently guard him to beat him relatively easily compared to how difficult it would be for either of them to beat the other one.

Prime Lebron vs Prime Jordan would be a hell of a fight, but I think Lebron would come out on top due to size advantage. 

I think athletic bigs like KD and Hakeem have a decided advantage against the edge cases such as Steph and Shaq. Against Steph on offense, they will just dominate the basket and if they miss, they will be playing volleyball by themselves. On defense, they can defend the basket and make him shoot from beyond 10 feet. Can Steph shoot >70% beyond the free throw line? Against Shaq, they have the range to shoot from middle range to pull Shaq away from the basket for an occasional drive. On the other hand, Shaq, starting his possession from beyond the 3-point line (I am assuming), can he consistently back his way to the basket without occasionally turning it over since he has no shooting range? KD/Hakeem have clear advantage against both types.

MJ has athleticism, Lebron has strength and height, KD has reach and height and Hakeem has footwork and height. I chose MJ for sheer athleticism and KD for extending the range and defending the basket. 

Unless you're playing 21, wtf is this free throw talk?  Did y'all ever actually play 1 on 1 to 11 or 15?  There ain't no fucking free throws. You call your foul and it's your ball up top.  

On 4/21/2025 at 6:16 AM, HookEm said:

Hakeem would be able to defend KD

No one Hakeem's size has ever been able to defend KD. 

No one of any size, frankly, ever defended him well outside of some Tony Allen stretches and really good team D that wore him out like in 2016 or 2022. 

kobe famously said that kd was the one guy he never figured out, because kd never stopped evolving his game.

I know most of this board is from Houston but what makes you think Hakeem would beat Wilt?

This is a dumb convo. Durant wins this.

wild to me that lebron has 5 votes to larry’s 0. larry >>>>>> lebron in 1 on 1. lebron is a much better full court, team player than he is a 1 on 1 player. larry would roast lebron in embarrassing fashion, and should probably be a top 3 vote getter here with mj and KD.

also, i get it that steph is too small and can’t defend, but it would be fascinating to watch as he has the deepest bag when it comes to shooting, and probably has the greatest “he’s on fire!” ability. when he’s on he ain’t missing, from anywhere. he could jump out to a big lead and really put the pressure on any of these, especially if they played by today’s weird ass 1 on 1 rules.

for those who don’t know, 1 on 1 is no longer just a straight up game between two players, scoring by 1’s and 2’s, playing to 8, 10, or 11, winning by two. now, there’s all sorts of variations of 1 on 1, and they’ve all gotten rid of things like hustle, rebounding, and defense. now whenever one guy takes a shot, that’s it. whatever happens happens. you don’t hustle for a rebound, try to get the ball back out behind the line, and keep going at it; no. once the shot is up the play is over, and if it’s a miss the defender automatically has the ball. whenever he shoots, both men will again stop playing, watch what happens with the shot, gather the rebound (or make), and start over. it is fucking asinine if you ask me, and the laziness of it all epitomizes the “streamlined” modern american player. we’ve gotten rid of all of the actual playing, and turned it into a skills competition, even during the real games.

Edited January 15Jan 15 by Derka

they also will play variations such as 1 on 1 with only one dribble, or two dribbles, or even no dribbles. all of the best players in the world do this whenever they play 1 on 1. here’s a wild idea: how about you roll the ball out there and fucking compete? how about you actually work up a sweat, take it seriously, and go after the guy who’s trying to beat you? i haven’t been a coach in a decade but this shit fires me up now more than ever. i’ve watched basketball culture in this country rot, and it starts at the top and flows downhill very very fast. modern 1 on 1 is a complete joke. zero surprise that the euro guys are so much more well rounded than we are.

point being, if steph gets to do things like chase down rebounds and fire up a three before his defender can get back on him, he’s got a much better chance of winning than he does in the completely stupid modern 1v1 game. man, this conversation got me fired up! lol

Edited January 15Jan 15 by Derka

Larry would be talking shit to Bron to an embarrassing degree. He might make him cry.

I think peak Kawhi Leonard would be a problem in a 1v1 tourney. He has extra size and length to guard some of the bigger players like Bird or Durant. He could effectively guard 4 positions in his prime. And on offense he could use his size to bully smaller guards including Jordan. He was a very strong and efficient isolation player that would translate well into 1v1. Great midrange game. Can create space with size and strength. Protects the ball well. Etc.

The downside is that he wasn't a competitive maniac like some of the others.

if my life is on the line i take kawhi > bron.

1 hour ago, HookEm said:

And on offense he could use his size to bully smaller guards including Jordan.

Nobody could "bully" prime Jordan. He's the greatest player of all time and the most cold-blooded.

The only way prime Jordan is losing a 1x1 game is if he's got a height disadvantage of 5-6" or more, and even then I bet he'd likely win. Kawhi and Jordan are about the same height. Jordan dunked on that his entire career.

I'm not saying I would bet against Jordan, so just getting that out of the way up front.

That said, Joe Dumars did well against Jordan with his physicality and he was 6'3 (albeit earlier in his career). Gary Payton also did pretty well against Jordan. Kawhi matches up better defensively in a 1v1 game than either of them (although not as well in a team game where you have to fight through screens and chase Jordan all over the court).

Also Kawhi and Jordan may be close to the same height, but Kawhi plays much bigger especially if we are talking prime Jordan and not late career. Kawhi is 6'7, 225 with a 7'3 wingspan. Jordan was 6'6, 213 with 6'11 wingspan. That extra 4" of wingspan and 10+ pounds would come in handy 1v1. Jordan was obviously more explosive, but Kawhi is plenty athletic and the length would mitigate some of the athletic disadvantages.

Prime Kawhi was also a significantly better shooter from 3 than Jordan. A lot of that is due to the modern focus, but if you dropped them both in their prime on a playground, Jordan would be at a disadvantage there.

But in the end Jordan is a competitive psycho and my money would still be on him.

Likewise, I'm not saying Kawhi wouldn't give Jordan legit competition. Leonard is a great player, future HOFer, and an incredibly multi-faceted and versatile defender. I was primarily taking exception to the notion that he'd be able to "bully" Jordan.

MJ is gonna come up with perceived slights for everyone there and win going away. He'll take the Lebron is better than him talk personal and ruin him.

Anything can happen in a one on one game. If you told me Nick Van Exel beat Ja Morant or KD one on one I wouldn't be shocked. I know Rashard lewis used to get his ass handed to him by Omar Sneed.

As for Kawhi, I've seen him harass the fuck out of KD. He's a problem for anyone, evenMJ

I think we've forgotten just how crazy athletic LBJ was in the early 2010s. To me it's a tiered list with him, MJ and KD, and then everyone else somewhere lower on the totem pole.

KD wins.

I've seen Durant play plenty against Kawhi and LeBron. Neither of those guys can guard him. He makes anyone close to his size look like an asshole. Smaller players - even wings like 6'6" and below - are the ones that historically give him issues.

No one in NBA history stops any of this. Not even Tony Allen. I watched the Pistons fucking double him and shade a 3rd guy as help in 2022 when he was on the Nets.

Peak KD would win

The matchups would matter a lot. I think Bird would beat KD. Jordan would beat Bird. KD would beat Jordan.

I wonder how someone like 1992 David Robinson would do. Dude averaged 4.5 blocks and 2.3 steals for the season. Very mobile for a big. Obviously not quick enough to guard someone like Jordan very well, but also too big for Jordan to handle on the other end. And he would be a big problem for players like KD or Bird on both sides.

I think peak Dirk would be an absolute nightmare.

…on one side of the ball. or in the new, modern 1v1 where there’s very little defense and no rebounding.

No Kareem? Couldn't he just skyhook his way to victory against anybody?

How does no one mention one of the greatest NYC black top legends of all time?

All seriousness, a guy like Bernard King would be a beast in a one on one competition.

On 1/16/2026 at 2:04 PM, Valmy77 said:

No Kareem? Couldn't he just skyhook his way to victory against anybody?

I think he beat Dr j in a one on one