Tracy McGrady Says Lakers' LeBron James Would 'Get Crushed' in 1-on-1 Games

Even as the league's oldest player (for the second year) at age 40, 21-time All-Star Los Angeles Lakers power forward LeBron James remains one of the most lethal players in the NBA.

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The four-time league MVP is one game away from being named to what would be his record-extending 21st All-NBA team, with 64 contests played so far.

He remains a fantastic scorer and distributor and seems to have lost little of his athleticism when motivated in the open court.

James does, however, conserve his energy defensively these days — although the arrival of five-time All-NBA First Team guard Luka Doncic has allowed him to exert a bit less energy as a passer, and to step it up a bit on the other end of the hardwood.

Shockingly, Hall of Fame swingman and former seven-time All-Star Tracy McGrady doesn't think James, for all his obvious greatness, would be able to hold his own against his current league contemporaries.

During a new interview on "The Makeshift Project Podcast," McGrady broke down the limitations in James' game that would ultimately impede on how effective he could be as a one-on-one player.

“If you put him in one-on-one? I think he’ll (LeBron) get crushed. Yeah, I think he’ll get crushed — amongst guys that are actually in the NBA. And I’m sure LeBron would tell you that. Because his game is naturally built for five-on-five.“
- Tracy McGrady

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“If you put him [James] in one-on-one? I think he’ll get crushed. Yeah, I think he’ll get crushed — amongst guys that are actually in the NBA. And I’m sure LeBron would tell you that. Because his game is naturally built for five-on-five.“

James' game is certainly constructed to thrive in five-on-five contexts, but just because his passing acumen couldn't be employed doesn't mean he could use his still-otherworldly strength and athleticism to dominate the competition.

McGrady, however, thinks other all-timers would trounce him, past and present.

"He's not a one-on-one basketball player," McGrady continued. "Kobe [Bryant] is a one-on-one basketball player, Kyrie [Irving] is a one-on-one basketball player, James Harden, these guys are one-on-one basketball players, and LeBron can't do anything with that."

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Across his 64 healthy bouts for the 46-29 Lakers to this point, James is averaging 24.4 points while slashing .510/.374/.771 shooting splits, 8.4 dimes, 8.1 boards, 1.0 steals and 0.6 blocks per bout.

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