Kevin Durant Agrees He’d Play in 1v1 Tournament for $1M, Says Jayson Tatum or Kyrie Irving Could Beat Him

A 1v1 tournament between the league’s top talents has been proposed, among other ideas, to rekindle the excitement of NBA All-Star Weekend. Kevin Durant isn’t against the idea as long as there’s a certain incentive available.

When the topic arose on The Draymond Green Show, Durant shared that he’d be happy to compete for a $1 million prize. “Would I play? Yeah, I’d play,” KD said. “It’d be some good work too.” 

Detractors have often said that the NBA’s best players wouldn’t want to participate in a competition like this for fear of embarrassing themselves and fracturing their egos, but the 15-time All-Star is proving otherwise.

Draymond Green believes the Suns superstar would win the whole thing as a player who can effortlessly score from anywhere on the court. However, even KD knows he has bad days and named a pair of superstars he believes could take him in a 1v1 setting.

“You can say I can win this but I can also lose too,” Durant continued. “I done played ones with Jayson Tatum, and he got cooking.”

The future Hall of Famer also recalled his 1v1 battles with Kyrie Irving, who KD also believes could get the better of him.

“I would say [Tatum], Kyrie, for the simple fact that I played against them… Like a Joel [Embiid]… Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander], I mean Shai be tough,” Durant debated with himself over who else could beat him in a hypothetical matchup.

Draymond Green changed his 1v1 tournament winner choice

While Draymond Green said on the podcase that he’d take Durant in a potential 1v1 tournament, the former MVP wasn’t his original pick. Just over a week ago, the four-time champion was asked who would win the tourney and gave out a different name.

After thinking it over for a second, Green answered with one word: “Bron.” 

LeBron James is, of course, one of the most well-rounded players in the association, but his age and inconsistent jumper could limit him in a 1v1 setting. That could be why the 34-year-old Green changed his choice to the more sensible Durant.

KD’s no spring chicken himself, but he still has a few years before he cracks 40 and has shown little sign of slowing down his All-NBA production.

A 1v1 tournament at All-Star Weekend would be an event nearly everyone could get excited for and Durant’s name would certainly be in the ring to win it all.