NBA legend, Tracy McGrady recently talked about which players he would have most liked to see locked in a 1v1 battle against each other. The basis of this battle was that both players that were picked by T-Mac would be considered to be in the prime of their respective careers. And of course, he was allowed to pick any player from the history of the league. As seen in his post on Instagram, the following was McGrady’s answer.
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“The two most competitive players that I ever faced on a basketball court, Michael Jordan, and then his successor, Kobe Bryant. Those two in a game of one on one? That’s like going to a Michael Jackson concert and watching the greatest show on earth! The greatest entertainer on Earth!
Notably, it’s not only the highly skilled basketball which motivate T-Mac to choose MJ and Kobe, but also their elite trash talks.
These two dudes are the greatest. And to see them play 1v1? The trash talk that you gonna get from those two guys, the eliteness? Ahh…”
Across his career, Michael Jordan averaged a whopping 30.1 points per game. While Kobe Bryant’s average isn’t quite as lofty, it still remains at an elite 25 points per game. As for the other end of the court, Michael Jordan racked up one Defensive Player of the Year award, alongside nine All-Defensive Team selections. Not too far behind once again, Kobe Bryant had 12 All-Defensive team selections of his own across his illustrious career.
If this matchup could have ever happened, Kobe Bryant would have entered the competition as the underdog, despite all his greatness. However, given what his mentality was like, this would have likely only encouraged him to humiliate his idol.
During his life, Bryant once even spoke about the prospect of facing Jordan in a 1v1. However, much to many fans’ chagrin, he did not speak on who would win or lose. Instead, he exclaimed that he hated the discussion altogether. Explaining his reasoning behind it, the late great said the following.
“I truly hate having discussions about who win in 1v1. Your fans saying, ‘Hey Kobe, you’d beat Michael [Jordan] 1v1. I feel like, ‘Yo, what you get from me is from him!’. I don’t get five championships here without him. Because he guided me so much, he gave me so much great advice.
I was a kid that shot a bunch of airballs, you know what I mean? And at that point, Michael provided a lot of guidance for me.”
It’s clear that while Bryant loved to rib Jordan on occasion, he had nothing but respect for his mentor. So much so that he even hated speaking about who would win in a hypothetical pick-up game.
So, while McGrady spoke glowingly on the matter, perhaps it’s best to honor the late Laker legend’s wishes and taper down discussions on this topic.
Who did Tracy McGrady side with in this debate?
While Bryant may not have enjoyed fans’ discussions on the hypothetical game, he would have likely loved what McGrady had to say on the topic. After all, despite Michael Jordan being the clear favorite, T-Mac seemed very sure that it was Kobe Bryant who would take home the win. Upon being asked about it, T-Mac said,
“I’m going with Kobe! Yeah, I’m going with Kobe, because I think Kobe was the most skilled basketball player I’ve ever seen. I think he took what MJ [Michael Jordan] was and enhanced that skillset.”
While McGrady’s statement may seem a bit bold, it is not even close to an inaccurate one. After all, Kobe was constantly finding new ways to enhance himself at his craft. If Michael Jordan was who he was drawing from, and looking to improve on, it isn’t blasphemous to say that by his prime, he may have been more skilled than Jordan, something that has only added to his greatness as the years have rolled by.
Rest in peace, Black Mamba.
