Basketball may be a team game, but when it really comes down to it, all players want to know who the best 1v1 baller is. A few days ago, Michael Beasley and Lance Stephenson went at it in a 1v1 game, and Beasley walked away the winner. This game prompted a lot of debate on talk-shows and podcasts about an all-time 1v1 tournament, and many people, including the cast of All The Smoke, where Vernon Maxwell provided some classic answers.
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When asked by Stephen Jackson for an all-time player who could dominate a 1v1 setting, Rockets legend Maxwell went with the most obvious choice: Michael Jordan. “S**t, well, we already know Mike [Jordan],” he replied, to some indignant looks from his hosts.
Jackson pressed him again for a less obvious name that hoop fans might not expect or instantly remember. Maxwell grinned. “An old school guy named Alex English,” he said, launching into a tangent only Mad Max could deliver.
“M**********r walked like a turtle slow and shit and would kill your a**,” Maxwell said, laughing through the memory.
“That m**********r was so slow. I said, ‘How did this m**********r get this sh*t off?'” he continued, still amused. Then he delivered the punchline. “That sh*t was so slow and ugly,” Maxwell said, barely catching his breath from laughing. He paused before finishing the thought. “And that sh*t was effective, good God!” Ugly or not, it got results.
Vernon Maxwell may have clowned English’s form, but he gave credit in his own raw and unpredictable way. English, a Denver Nuggets legend, did not light up the screen, but he got buckets with consistency and patience that few defenders could solve.
He relied on a high release and smooth midrange touch to punish defenders who couldn’t stop his deliberate pace. That jumper worked. That rhythm killed defenders. That efficiency aged like wine.
Alex English led the league in scoring during the 1982–83 season and posted impressive numbers throughout the decade. He scored more points than Magic, Bird, and even Jordan during the 1980s — a fact often overlooked.
English made eight All-Star teams and led Denver deep into multiple playoff runs during his consistent scoring tear. He never needed flash. He only needed space, a jumper, and time. That was enough to punish opponents.
And really, isn’t that what all the best players need?
Raymond Felton echoed a similar tone when discussing Jordan’s 1v1 dominance recently on Podcast P with Paul George. George asked how MJ, then in his 40s, still dominated the Bobcats’ younger players in practice sessions. Felton did not blink. “Same post up, fadeaway. Anything you want, he was still doing it at that age.”
“He did whatever he wanted to do.“ The young guys could not stop him. That old-man game still worked. George and his cohosts leaned in, amazed at Jordan’s ability to dominate well into retirement. Felton explained it best: “You knew what was coming … and still couldn’t stop it.“ That was MJ.
The same truth applies to English. He moved slow, shot high, and made buckets look boring — and effective. Maxwell didn’t love the form, but he remembered the pain it caused defenders. That mattered most to real hoopers.
