Sometimes it takes a wild man to make a wild idea come to fruition. Well, Mr. Beast has an idea that would bring the basketball world to its knees. The famed YouTuber is pitching a 1 versus 1 showdown between Michael Jordan and LeBron James.
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This is something that basketball fans have been trying to manifest for decades. Sports analysts have built a career on fantasizing about this potential GOAT vs. GOAT showdown, but it never seemed like a possibility. For one thing, there’s the age difference. For another, neither man would want the L on their reputation. It definitely will never happen. But at least Beast has some sort of compromise.
The 27-year-old philanthropist held a co-stream with fellow content juggernaut Adin Ross, where he recalled doing a video with iconic soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo doing a 1v1 against a random fan with a $1 million on the line. “People loved it,” stated the billionaire, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, which led him to make his big MJ vs. LBJ pitch.
“I was just randomly thinking. Imagine if we got LeBron and Michael Jordan to 1v1, but we like handicapped LeBron in some way. They would never do it, but, imagine if we could get that to happen. You know how f******* crazy that would be?” he asked.
MrBeast tells Adin Ross he wants to make a LeBron James vs Michael Jordan 1v1 video but LeBron has to be handicapped in some way pic.twitter.com/EiQHn9IJu3
— FearBuck (@FearedBuck) August 2, 2025
Ross, of course, supported his friend and stated that if “anyone could make it happen,” it was him. The chats of each man’s stream were going crazy with hopefuls who just want to settle the GOAT debate once and for all.
For starters, you would have to come up with a really unique way to handicap LeBron. Taking away one arm isn’t enough. Maybe tying his shoes together and putting a blindfold on him, too? That isn’t to disrespect MJ. It’s just that His Airness is 62 years old, while LBJ is 40 and still built like a brick house.
The last time Jordan truly played competitively was when he challenged members of the Charlotte Bobcats, a team he owned at the time, to a series of games, which he reportedly won. But even that was over a decade ago, when he was in his late 40s/early 50s. 62 is an entirely different ballgame in terms of physicality.
And it’s not like James has slowed down. He averaged 24.4 points per game in the 2024-2025 season, on top of 8.2 assists per game. At 40, he was ranked 13th in scoring. Oh, and he came in 6th in MVP voting. That’s INSANE. Again, the handicap for LBJ is that he’s just not allowed to score.
Not to mention that the two have shared the court before. James shared a story on the New Heights podcast that he once played in a pickup game against Jordan when he was 16. It wasn’t a 1-1 setting. He also shared the court with Penny Hardaway, Antoine Walker, Ron Artest, and Michael Finlay. “I was unguardable,” the four-time NBA Champ claimed.
Regardless of this story or MrBeast’s dedicated pitch, this showdown will never happen. The PR teams of both men would never allow such a showdown to take place. No amount of money in the world could convince them because the headache of the stories they would have to endure is endless.
But if someone were to make it happen, Mr. Beast could. That’s not an endorsement, nor a promise. The man just has a way of convincing people. Not this time, though.
