“LeBron James is not beating me in a game of one-on-one”: When Russell Westbrook very confidently claimed he would beat the Lakers superstar in a 1v1

Russell Westbrook admitted that he would most certainly beat Lakers superstar, LeBron James, in a game of one-on-one. 

2018 was quite the different time for Russell Westbrook. He was nowhere close to teaming up with LeBron James on the Los Angeles Lakers and was still on the OKC Thunder, trying to lead them to a championship alongside Paul George who had an MVP caliber season the year prior. 

Of course, as NBA fans remember quite vividly, Damian Lillard dropped 50 points along with a 37-foot buzzer beater in Game 5 of a 2019 first round series to send Russell Westbrook and his Thunder home. 

2019 was also a strange time for LeBron James as well. He had just spent his first season with the Los Angeles Lakers and their young core of Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and Kyle Kuzma. Due to a nagging groin injury that kept him out of play for a majority of the regular season, James would actually miss the Playoffs for the first time in well over a decade.

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It was also during this time (2018-19 season) that Russ would appear on Kevin Hart’s ‘Cold as Balls’ show and talk about himself and LeBron in a hypothetical 1v1 situation. 

Russell Westbrook on beating LeBron James in a one-on-one. 

It goes without saying that Russell Westbrook is one of the most confident players in the NBA today. That is another reason as to why seeing him be as deflated as he is on the Lakers currently is so disheartening because NBA fans know just how passionate he is about the game. 

On Kevin Hart’s show back in the ‘19 season, Russ was asked by the comedian who he would take in a one-on-one: himself or LeBron James?

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“LeBron James will not win and he’s a good friend of mine but-I’m just letting you know; I’m winning. I’m winning,” said the 2017 MVP. 

Saying Russ would beat LeBron James in a 1v1 may sound ludicrous but thinking about 2017 Westbrook matching up against essentially any version of James as every year feels like a new prime for him, is actually quite interesting. 

Whos’ going to stop a player as fast and explosive as Russ? Certainly not LeBron. The same could be said about James however. It’s quite the entertaining hypothetical in all honesty.