Saturday, October 2nd, 2010 at 10:57 pm  |  203 responses

Video: Kobe: I’d Beat LeBron 1-on-1

While helping launch the London School of Basketball, Kobe was asked who would win 1-on-1 between him and LeBron. Thanks to Hoopsfix, we have Mamba’s answer on tape. “I’d win, I’d win,” Kobe said. “That’s what I do. One on one is..that’s easy for me, you know. Playing 1-on-1 is how I grew up playing, it’s like my thing. LeBron is more like a Magic Johnson — he’s a great passer and plays an all around game. At the core of me, I’m a 1-on-1 player. I’d do that in my sleep.”

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  • JTaylor21

    @Royal, of course they didn’t win the championship with Shaq because he was damn near 40 years old. I’m talking the Prime MDE Shaq that played in LA and dominated 3 straight finals, that Shaq not the “can’t make a point blank layup to save his life” Shaq.

  • http://www.dimemag.com Royal

    Your the one who brought up Cleveland Shaq not me…………

  • http://www.dimemag.com Royal

    But I get what you saying….Point still stands though

  • http://slamonline.com Brad Long (Yes, that Brad Long)

    Duh.

  • Coney Islander

    As much as I hate to admit it, he’s right. I’m gonna go with the guy that scored 81 to win one on one.

  • The Philosopher

    @Poetic Justice:
    If my “speaking” suggests that I like to sound “wise” and “insighful”, I’d rather that.

  • Logan

    most of the guys posting on this site have never played basketball, ever.
    as someone already pointed out, playing one on one is more to do with your basic skills; dribble, speed, jumpshot etc. rather than brute force. try playing one on one with a point guard sometime folks, its tough to defend.
    Kobe would win this hands down.
    Lebron vs Melo would be more fun to watch.

  • http://www.slamonline.com/online/media/slam-tv/2010/10/video-kobe-i’d-beat-lebron-1-on-1/ Poetic Justice

    @ Philosopher: your “speaking” suggests that you ATTEMPT to sound “wise” and “insightful” …unfortunately your attempts fail.

    @ cheers and @Royal: i agree with your points about you can’t argue “what ifs” and that its not a given that if kobe is substituted for shaq then it would automatically equal ‘chips…. my main point remains though, that is that it takes more than one talented player to win championships, and kobe’s teams have been far more talented than lebron’s teams. The shaq point was more of a visual aid to my argument rather than the main focus.

    That being said I now sound like a kobe hater, but I would prefer kobe on my team, and especially taking the last shot.

    In any event, D Wade is my guy, and has been since marquette, so he’s taking the last shot over lebron also. I do like LeBron though.

  • flipnoyce

    Lebron would destroy Kobe one on one, not a fan of either one. There’s is no way in hell Kobe could guard Lebron and out rebound him. Kobe can shoot against smaller defender but Bron guarding him one on one with no refs to call foul for him is like taking a dog for a walk in the park!

  • flipnoyce

    I’ll take Iverson on his prime 0ver Kobe. I’ve never seen the day Kobe stop A.I. if you guys wanna talk about handles and shooting skills.

  • http://ohlaglambam.blogspot.com Zabba

    Lebron is a better passer than Kobe and he does to prefer to dish rather than hit the bucket. And yet Lebron averaged 30 points per game…as a passer? Imagine what would happen in a 1-on-1 situation where he’s forced not to pass. Yeah Kobe, you’d be toast.

  • http://ohlaglambam.blogspot.com Zabba

    And now I’m going to remove Lebron’s dong from my mouth.

  • JoeMaMa

    LeBron is stronger, Kobe is quicker. LeBron is a better facilitator, Kobe a better one-on-one scorer. Kobe wins the one-on-one match up because he’s got a better jump shot. In a one-on-one, without NBA reffing, you’ll have a tougher time to get to the rim; no ticky tack fouls. As a result, jump shooting becomes more important to getting points. Also, Kobe’s post up moves will get a few more points. LeBron gets his points from brute strength in this match up, but he doesn’t have the quickness to easily beat Kobe to the basket; Kobe would body him up at the three point line and take away LeBron’s runaway power, like in a fast break situation. I think the real question is who wins KOBE VS CARMELO or KOBE VS KD. They’re better individual scorers than LeBron, who gets his points in the flow of the game. Kobe vs. LeBron is really like MJ vs Magic. Kobe wins.

  • Clipperfan

    Kobe is quicker? hahahahaha

  • Anthony

    Kobe vs KD would be fun to watch. KD is a better jump shooter than Lebron and at times he showed some defense against Kobe during the playoffs. I would still put my money on Kobe thought.

  • Ali

    Let em’ know Kyle Stack… Coooollld Blooooded in my best Dave Chappelle/Rick James voice! THE MOST HEARTLESS player in the association when the game is on the line. This a trait you can’t teach, it’s just gotta be in you.

  • JTaylor21

    Kobe is quicker? Kobe would body him up? Kobe would post him up? HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

  • Josh

    I love how there was no hesitation, no smile afterwards. He just said it matter of factly and didn’t back off of it at all. Just said it like that’s the way it is.

  • http://www.boogiewilliams.com Boing Dynasty

    @logan if you truely believe that “most” of the people commenting on a basketball website @ 930am have never played basketball then you clearly have horrible judgement.

  • JoeMaMa

    @JTaylor: Kobe would post LeBron up. I think he’s capable, given that he learned post moves from Hakeem, and in a 1 on 1, you can bump, fake, and beat your defender to a spot around the key. Kobe is quicker. It comes from his being smaller, more lithe. Kobe would body him up. Because when you play tough D on the wing, especially with no NBA refs calling small fouls, you can do more to stop someone before they get going. It’s too bad you hate Kobe so much, because if you weren’t so busy giving hateful remarks towards him, you’d realize how good of a player he is. But remember: hating someone else is the mask for hating yourself and not knowing what to do about it.

  • The Philosopher

    @Poetic Justice @1:44 a.m.:

    just a small glimpse into my mind:
    Have you ever allowed yourself to… “get owned” just to see what it feels like?
    That is me..

  • unrel

    i’m not going to read everyone’s stan comments.. but i’d take kobe in this one.. bron’s only chance is posting kobe up.. and he better not miss.. because once kobe gets the rock.. it’s lights out.. on the offensive end.. kobe is the best shot maker in the game.. forget about shot taking.. he’s the best shot maker.. he can score anywhere.. any how.. bron’s offensive game isn’t on that level.. regardless how great he is.. i did see someone compare this match up to pau vs prime shaq.. and that’s the same thing.. shaq will only play with 5 feet of the rim.. as soon as he misses.. he better hope he can see pau on the perimeter… i’d take pau against young shaq also.. remember what the dream did to a younger shaq..

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Vision of Greatness
    I remember it seeing it as part of a story or tv segment. They were saying that they polled a lot of players in the League and asked them who they thought would be the toughest matchup in a one-on-one game and the easy winner was Vince. I don’t have any documented sources though, just my own memory.

  • http://slamonline.com Kap

    JTaylor
    One of Kobe’s most memorable shots was when he posted up Bron and hit that ridiculous rainbow fadeaway in January of 2009 minutes after he just dislocated his finger. So I’m sure he could post Bron up again.

  • Anthony

    I dont know if its a good measure for comparaison but i remember Pietrus doing a hell of a job one on one defense on Lebron during the Playoffs in 2009 but he was killed by Kobe right after that.

  • Blackphantom

    @Royal’s 11:22 comment, but Shaq being there didn’t hurt Bron numbers at all

  • http://sdjflf.com Jukai

    Anthony: Lebron averaged 38.5 points in that series. Good job Peitrus.

  • Blackphantom

    hahaha that’s just ridiculously great one-on-one defense

  • JTaylor21

    Kap, okay lets go off ONE freaking shot to determine that Kobe would post Bron into submission. How bout all the countless time bron hit shots in kobe face like the one he hit to win the game in LA about 2 years ago. You gots to come better than that bra bra.

  • http://thosefishtacosarethetits.blogspot.com Boston_Blogg3r

    I’ll take Durant or Melo over anyone in a one-on-one.

  • cheers

    Jtaylor….. countless time???? Everyone gets shot on countless time if you play in the NBA, but you only used one specific game to prove your point……http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_L9RwQ1jiU…. ummm okkkk. Good Job Lebron, you have scored on the great one…. Im not going to used Kobe scoring “countless time” on James, because boy are there are a lot on youtube, because like I said, everyone get scored on.

  • http://www.kb24.com The Seed

    Some of yall cats, don’t understand one on one basketball, it has nothing to do with size or strength. Its more to do with handles, setting up for jumpshots and playing tight d. Normally bigger players lose, Also Durant would not be hard to stop in one on one. A better matchup would be Melo vs. Kobe to be honest. BOOK IT!!

  • http://www.dimemag.com Royal

    BlackPhantom: I never said Shaq would have hurt Lebron Stat wise. I said that Lebron/ Lakers version Shaq MAY have not been as succesful as Kobe/Shaq

  • The Philosopher

    Shout out @Blackphantom and Royal.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    @The Seed your right to an extent. but don’t be crazy, size and strength have as much to do with one on one as any other physical aspect. Kobe v. LeBron one on one would definately go Kobe’s way most of the time, but really have you ever played one on one against someone bigger stronger and faster then you? because that isht matters, especially if they have the whole triphecta. which LBJ does over Kobe.

  • JTaylor21

    The Seed, you must be getting your Stevie Wonder on when you type because even someone with 20/2000 vision don’t be typing the kind of BS you type. You just said that “it has nothing to do with size but more to do with handles, and playing tight d. Normally bigger players lose then stated that Melo; a big dude with good but not great handles that struggles to play D; will be a better match-up vs Kobe WHAAAAAAAAAAAT that makes NO sense. It would benefit you and everyone else if you caught a quick case of amnesia and forgot everything you taught you knew because it’s a big pile of BS.

  • The Philosopher

    nbk:
    Preach.
    On top of The King being a clearly and dominantly superior better all around player.

  • The Philosopher 2.0

    LONG…LIVE…THE KING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Michael

    fair enough IMO. Kobe would take LBJ one v one i think, both in their primes I would say its almost certain Kobe is winning 8 from 10 games, right now I would just give him a slight edge.

  • The Philosopher 2.0

    Cmon SLAM,
    LONG…LIVE…THE KING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • The Philosopher 2.0

    Cmon HATERZZ
    LONG…LIVE…THE KING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olybb/news/story?id=5493184 Jackie Moon

    Duh. Kobe is a clearly and dominantly superior better all around player, so of course he would be Lebron 1-on-1.

  • The Philosopher

    SLAM, you see that, right?
    That is NOT me.

  • http://facebook.com shawan

    hell no kobe lj would babii yuh punk ass

  • The Philosopher

    Whoever did that really, really loves me.
    I’m shedding a tear because the enormous gratitude I feel is unbearable.
    SLAM knows me better than that.
    Period.

  • The Philosopher

    Oh, wait.
    I missed the 2.0 on their name.
    Carry on, brethren! Carry on!
    That still isn’t me.
    I feel so famous, though.

  • dfortruth

    Kobe would beat Lebronda any day 1 on 1. Besides Lebronda would run and get Wade and Chris.

  • http://slamonline.com/ Adam Figman

    Today’s Polladaday is dedicated to the subject … maybe we can tally up these opinions.

    http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2010/10/polladaday-kb-vs-lbj/

  • Pingback: SLAM ONLINE | » Top 50: Kobe Bryant, no. 2

  • http://n/a Team Unique

    Hey I know who will beat them both, that would be RAJON RONDOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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