Over the past few years, fans have expressed their lack of interest in NBA All-Star Weekend. Many ideas have been suggested to improve the festivities, including the introduction of a 1-on-1 tournament. The NBA has been reluctant to consider the prospect, but the Unrivaled League has added it, and many fans hope the NBA follows suit. WNBA star Napheesa Collier believes the NBA needs to make the addition. However, she doesn’t think there’s a player who would be able to defeat Victor Wembanyama.
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Collier made a guest appearance on FanDuel TV’s Run It Back. Due to her experience with a 1-on-1 tournament in Unrivaled, Chandler Parsons sought her opinion on a similar event in the NBA. If she had to put her money on one player, it would be on none other than Wembanyama. She said,
“Wemby’s gotta win an NBA 1v1 tournament. He’s so long, how are you gonna shoot over him? How are you gonna defend him?”
“Wemby’s gotta win an NBA 1v1 tournament. He’s so long, how are you gonna shoot over him? How are you gonna defend him?” @PHEEsespieces
Should the NBA take notes from Unrivaled and add a 1v1 tourney to All-Star Weekend?@MichelleDBeadle | @ChandlerParsons | @TeamLou23 pic.twitter.com/9G6z6bFRWS
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) February 11, 2025
Collier is a big advocate of a potential 1-on-1 tournament in the NBA. She believes it will spice things up and help drive viewership, especially since interest has been declining over the past few years. Many talented players would thrive in a 1-on-1 setting, but Webanyama’s length would make him hard to bet against.
Unfortunately, Collier states that players put their reputations on the line, so it will be hard to convince them to participate in the hypothetical competition. However, that didn’t prevent them from discussing players they believed would dominate in such an event. Chandler Parsons and Lou Williams had some interesting choices for players who would thrive.
Williams and Parsons believe an NBA legend would win 1-on-1 tournament
Parsons believes Suns star Kevin Durant is the only player who would win an NBA 1-on-1 tournament. Many NBA fans and analysts regard the two-time champion as the greatest scorers of all time. Parsons feels there no area in a 1-on-1 game in which Durant wouldn’t thrive.
“Size, length, defense, offense, no one can guard him and he can guard,” Parsons said.
“If this was an All-Star event it would be the most watched part of All-Star Weekend. Period.” – @MichelleDBeadle pic.twitter.com/C1xOGM3OI9
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) December 13, 2024
Williams backed Parsons’ pick but also threw out an unexpected name into the mix:
“A sleeper pick is Kawhi Leonard.”
The NBA has never had a 1-on-1 tournament in the league’s existence. Perhaps with the recent push from fans, there is a sliver of hope NBA Commissioner Adam Silver turns these dreams into reality.
