The other day, the basketball world was gifted with a look at a two-on-two basketball game involving a 50-year-old MJ and Tom Brady. The few seconds that we saw were pretty awesome, and it’s clear that MJ still has some of his old tricks.
But imagine what a pickup game would have looked like in his prime. Considering how good he was, it’s hard to imagine that he would have lost to anyone — that is, except for Kobe Bean Bryant.
In a 2013 interview, the GOAT himself was asked to list off players he’d like to go up against in a one-on-one match and Kobe was the only one he believed he might lose to.
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The similarities between MJ and Kobe are stunning. When MJ said that Kobe “stole” all of his moves, he wasn’t kidding. Bryant adopted many of Mike’s moves into his own game and it’s part of the reason he was so successful.
In a game between the two, it’s fair to say Jordan would have been playing himself. Honestly, it would have been an amazing sight to see.
Still, beating Jordan in a one-on-one game would have been a very difficult feat. He perfected almost every aspect of the game including driving, shooting, and defending. In regards to MJ vs LeBron specifically, we actually broke down what a game might look like. Not even LeBron’s powers could overcome Mike, who used fadeaways, circus layups and brute strength to overpower the “King.”
To be frank, there’s not a whole lot of players who would stand a chance against that.
