Which NBA player wins 1v1? ft. Tracy McGrady

[og15]

We all love the 1v1 question. So just for fun, superfans, don't get too wild, here's a clip of Tmac being asked about a couple of 1v1 matchups.

https://youtube.com/shorts/C6ERNL-RNww?si=vrvGcWMx_vkqcUb_

The matchups are below with his answers in spoiler.

Wade vs Harden

Spoiler:

Harden

KD vs Bird

Spoiler:

KD

Lebron vs MJ

Spoiler:

MJ

Steph vs Kyrie

Spoiler:

First to get the ball

Pippen vs Kawhi

Spoiler:

Pippen

Klay vs Allen

Spoiler:

Allen

Kidd vs Nash

Spoiler:

Nash

Some nice ones in there. Wade vs Harden, Steph vs Kyrie.

[picc]

I'd like to know the reasoning for his Pippen vs Kawhi answer. The opposite answer would have been a pretty fast pick for me. In fact its probably the easiest one, aside from KD vs. Bird, which KD would dominate.

No disagreements elsewhere. The Nash vs Kidd one on one would be interesting though. Awful scorer with great defense vs great scorer with awful defense.

[Lalouie]

1on1 goes to the physicsally better athlete with D.

D will matter since the focus is on the dude in front of you and no one else
WADE

bird an kd. no one stops the other. it is equal. kd has better D but bird has smarts. i don't think smarts matter here. but bird faced physically tough players.
KD ON THE LAST SHOT IN QUINTOUPLE OVERTIME

mj/lebron mj is the greatest scorer ever. lebron is more like an elite jack of all trades. but that don't matter here. no one stops mj because of his big a$$ed hands that can palm the ball, which mj uses to great effect. he will show lbj the ball and take it away like a daddy playing keep away. mj at 6'6 is only 2" shorter and he's faced tough physicality
MJ

steph/kyrie steph shooting 3s is moot. no 3s in 1on1 when the dude is in your grill all the time. kyrie is too tricky. again real close but not as close as bird/kd
KYRIE

pippen/kawhi will be a bigger margin than people think. great great D for both but kawhi has legs like tree trunks and he's unstoppable at midrange. one of the best ever
KAWHI

KLAY AND KIDD wins. too big for the other guy

[Iwasawitness]

There is no possible way Harden beats Wade one on one.

[og15]

I'd like to know the reasoning for his Pippen vs Kawhi answer. The opposite answer would have been a pretty fast pick for me. In fact its probably the easiest one, aside from KD vs. Bird, which KD would dominate.

No disagreements elsewhere. The Nash vs Kidd one on one would be interesting though. Awful scorer with great defense vs great scorer with awful defense.

The Pippen vs Kawhi one definitely threw me off, 1v1 offense wasn't particularly Pippen's biggest strength, while Kawhi kinda mastered 1v1 isolation offense in his prime. Yea Pippen can defend, but so can Kawhi.

Nash/Kidd I thought about a little, but that one, I see the Kids pick based on him just backing Nash down for layups.

I was surprised that he picked Harden, not that I don't think an argument can be made, just didn't think he would go with Harden. His points are true, Harden has the shooting and tighter handles advantage.

[picc]

The Pippen vs Kawhi one definitely threw me off, 1v1 offense wasn't particularly Pippen's biggest strength, while Kawhi kinda mastered 1v1 isolation offense in his prime. Yea Pippen can defend, but so can Kawhi.

Nash/Kidd I thought about a little, but that one, I see the Kids pick based on him just backing Nash down for layups.

I was surprised that he picked Harden, not that I don't think an argument can be made, just didn't think he would go with Harden. His points are true, Harden has the shooting and tighter handles advantage.

Yeah scoring was not Pippen's strong suit, and he usually wasn't trying to do it with a 2x DPOY on him. Kawhi is much better at getting to a spot and raising up over defense.

I wavered on the Harden/Wade pick at first because Wade is such a better defender and because I hate Harden. But Harden's made his whole career off dancing around elite defenders and raising up over them from all kinds of distance, while Wade was never really a one on one player.

So I, begrudgingly, conceded Harden would probably get that one.

I think I'd need to see Kidd vs Nash. That would be a great one.

[CodeBreaker]

Kawhi would destroy Pippen in a 1v1

[JimmyPlopper]

There is no possible way Harden beats Wade one on one.

I'm inclined to agree with you

[theonlyclutch]

There is no possible way Harden beats Wade one on one.

The statistical iso king of the last decade has no chance of beating Wade 1v1? That's a bold statement.

[Iwasawitness]

There is no possible way Harden beats Wade one on one.

The statistical iso king of the last decade has no chance of beating Wade 1v1? That's a bold statement.

Please explain to me how Harden is supposed to guard Wade. I'll wait.

[dhsilv2]

There is no possible way Harden beats Wade one on one.

What? Harden might be the best non big man I could imagine in 1 on 1. Dudes just unstoppable. Assuming 1's and 2's he'd be just unbeatable.

[dhsilv2]

The Pippen vs Kawhi one definitely threw me off, 1v1 offense wasn't particularly Pippen's biggest strength, while Kawhi kinda mastered 1v1 isolation offense in his prime. Yea Pippen can defend, but so can Kawhi.

Nash/Kidd I thought about a little, but that one, I see the Kids pick based on him just backing Nash down for layups.

I was surprised that he picked Harden, not that I don't think an argument can be made, just didn't think he would go with Harden. His points are true, Harden has the shooting and tighter handles advantage.

Yeah scoring was not Pippen's strong suit, and he usually wasn't trying to do it with a 2x DPOY on him. Kawhi is much better at getting to a spot and raising up over defense.

I wavered on the Harden/Wade pick at first because Wade is such a better defender and because I hate Harden. But Harden's made his whole career off dancing around elite defenders and raising up over them from all kinds of distance, while Wade was never really a one on one player.

So I, begrudgingly, conceded Harden would probably get that one.

I think I'd need to see Kidd vs Nash. That would be a great one.

Harden Wade vs Kidd Nash is interesting because Harden thrives one on one off his physicality, especially when he plays defense. Obviously wade would get a few blow boys of course. And in the same way, you can see it with Kidd Nash...but at the end of the day the better shooter and here we are talking way better shooters just make more sense.

[Iwasawitness]

There is no possible way Harden beats Wade one on one.

What? Harden might be the best non big man I could imagine in 1 on 1. Dudes just unstoppable. Assuming 1's and 2's he'd be just unbeatable.

For one thing, Harden can’t guard Wade. Wade on the other hand would at least be able to make Harden work harder for his baskets and outright disrupt his offense at times. Given Wade’s physical advantages and speed, it’s hard to imagine Wade not having his way with harden on every single possession.

[dhsilv2]

There is no possible way Harden beats Wade one on one.

The statistical iso king of the last decade has no chance of beating Wade 1v1? That's a bold statement.

Please explain to me how Harden is supposed to guard Wade. I'll wait.

Give him 2-3 feet and body him once he gets near the rim. Wade wasn't an elite iso player. He was one of the greatest off ball slashers in NBA history, maybe even over young MJ.

[The Big O]

Harden might actually roast Wade with his skillset.

I personally think KD would fry Larry Bird one on one, did you see him destroy Team USA during their King of Court drills?

LeBron would probably beat Jordan if it's not a three dribble limit (phone booth scoring type game).

I would take Kyrie over Steph in a one on one (and really Kyrie over anyone without a significant size advantage).

Kawhi easily over Pippen.

Ray over Klay.

Nash over Kidd.

[Bornstellar]

Wade/Harden - Harden, iso has always been his bread and butter

KD/Bird - not sure, whoever gets the ball first might not give it back

LeBron/MJ - not sure, I want to say MJ since he is the greatest ever and the best iso scorer ever imo, but LeBron is just a lot bigger and stronger and has the athleticism to keep up with MJ. I'd probably lean towards LeBron

Steph/Kyrie - Probably Kyrie, another guy who excels in iso whereas Steph, while good in his own right, is most effective off-ball

Pippen/Kawhi - Kawhi is basically 2nd threepeat Jordan on offense but much stronger. I'd go with Kawhi since he is just a better offensive player than Pippen

Klay/Allen - Allen for sure, he had way more skills than just shooting

Kidd/Nash - Nash is easily a better scorer/shooter than Kidd

[Birth of the Cool]

Wade vs Harden: The most annoying 1v1 here as both would keep calling fouls. I'd go with Harden as he is the better iso player, has 3pt range and has more ways to score. Despite his rep Harden is also a good post defender and his size & strength would negate Wade's own strength.

KD vs Bird: KD. His length and quickness could be an annoyance and I don't see how Bird on anyone really stops Durant in iso with his pull up game and length/height.

LBJ vs MJ: This is a tough one. I lean MJ as I think he's the more consistent offensive player. He has his spots, his moves and even when you know it he gets to his spots and scores from there off of moves, counter moves, footwork. I think LBJ's inconsistency on how and where he scores would give the edge to MJ.

Steph vs Kyrie: Steph's the superior player but in a 1v1 I give Kryie the edge cuz of his monster bag of tricks to get his shot off, and couple that with Curry who is an OK defender I just think Kyrie's game is made for 1v1 where Steph has a good iso game to but is better playing a team game.

Pippen vs Kawhi: Kawhi just because he's the more polished offensive player. Knows where he gets his offense, strong enough to get to his spots and athletic/strong enough to get to his spot and create space to get his shot off.

Klay vs Allen: Allen. Allen has had much more of a career being a 1v1 player, Klay for the most part is a catch and shoot guy. I guess Klay could get hot but if I had to bet I'd guess more often that not Allen would be able to get his offense going in much more varied ways. Klays defense (if he was in his prime) may cause issues but I still give the nod to Allen.

Kidd vs Nash: Nash. Only because Kidd's offensive game is pretty basic. He's more of a set shooter, even his layup package is inconsistent. The only thing that makes me question it is Kidds strength and elite defense, but in the long run I think even if Kidd can slow down Nash he doesn't have enough in his iso bag to score more often than he can stop Nash's layup & shooting package.

[10DayContract]

Kobe would beat everyone.

[bovice]

Harden has a strong base and is a good post-up defender. Wade isn't the best shooter so I think that plays into what Harden is decent at defensively. so yeah I agree with the Harden pick

[CometGM]

There is no possible way Harden beats Wade one on one.

What? Harden might be the best non big man I could imagine in 1 on 1. Dudes just unstoppable. Assuming 1's and 2's he'd be just unbeatable.

The superlatives also go the other way for Harden's defense. There is no way Harden is stopping Wade.
It's a totally different game when there are 10 people on the court and the possibility of someone setting a pick on you, than it is going straight one-on-one with no other factors to consider.

I can definitely see Wade taking it because of many factors, including the fact that Harden gets that deer in the headlights look when things get really tight, so depending on how big of a tournament or what's on the line for the one-on-one, I could see Harden choking.

Would love to see Harden doing something like this:

Watch on YouTube