Kobe on playing T-Mac one-on-one: "I cooked him. Roasted him. Wasn't even close."

As Kobe has gotten older Ive seen to grow more and more respect for him. Its hard to hate his swagger and other worldly confidence. He is Jordan reincarnate for todays NBA. His desire, confidence, and skill will probably be as close to Jordan that we will get in our lifetime. Lebron is amazing, but he doesnt have the cut your heart our mentality that Kobe has.

 

When Kobe was 20, T-Mac was what 18 or 19? In T-Mac's prime, in '04, I think T-Mac was unstoppable one on one. And he was able to play decent defense back then. No doubt Kobe is way better than him, overall, during the course of their respective career, etc but in their prime, it would have been a close game IMO.

 

So, pre-orlando for McGrady?

If so... so what?

 

IF only Kobe was as candid about that time in Colorado where he raped that teenager.

 

I remember T-Mac getting Kobe pretty bad 1 on 1 a few times in his prime, but i gotta go with Kobe. I love how the interview mentions Kobe doing this or that on MJ at such a young age. Every time Kobe went off, most of his points came against other defenders. They never really played 1 on 1 against each other but here and there. Theres even a youtube video of every play they faced each other in. Just bc Kobe went off in a game where MJ was present doesn't mean he did it against him. Might even apply to T-Mac and Kobe. Did they really guard each other all game every game they played?

 

Kobe couldn't guard TMac to save his life in real games. Before the injuries, of course.

 

That was before T-Mac took his game to another level. Not to say I don't think Kobe would still beat him, but T-Mac was a different offensive beast once he got into his mid 20s.

 

Since Tmac is in China now,

I think Kobe should have included

that he could:

Stir Fry
Pan sear
kung paoed
chopped him up like in Benihanna and tossed in with the shrimp

McGrady


Hell, for the Lin fans,
Kobe could have turned McGrady into stinky tofu or rolled him up into little balls to put in his Taro smoothie

 

I believe every word of this.

If you doubt this story just look at how McGrady played against Kobe when he was here. He played scared. He was mostly passive and Kobe was overly aggressive against him.

That one play that Harden had last game against Kobe impressed me because it said he would not back down.

McGrady, OTOH, laid down the red carpet for Kobe even before the games began.

 

Damn. What a burn from Kobe. I'm probably one of the biggest Tmac fans still left here but that was funny.

Personally I think he'd put a great fight against MJ, but he'd be totally be destroyed by Lebron in a one-on-one without refs calling ticky-tack fouls. I mean...c'mon the dude's got the body of Karl Malone and the quickness of...well Kobe. Kobe can talk smack all he wants but there's no way he's gonna be able to guard LBJ if they played without refs.

Regarding Kobe vs Tmac, it's probably true, Tmac isn't exactly a great shooter, he just uses his height to get open on every shot. Tmac also didn't work on his game at all, and just relied on his athletecism, high bball IQ and god-given talent to cruise through the league, so it's not hard to believe Kobe would have schooled him.

 

WTF, it is so obvious that Kobe is having Mid-life crisis, the way he talks is making me sick. Kobe has been overated way too much in NBA.........

 

I don't remember too many of their matchups but I do specifically remember one game when T-Mac was lighting it up through 3 quarters on an injured Kobe Bryant who had a separated shoulder. Then Kobe was like ***** this and scored 24 points and held T-Mac to 1 point and the Lakers won. It was around 2004 I believe. Was that before or after T-Mac's injuries?

T-Mac was a beast though I had the T-Mac 1s and 2s in middle school

 

Looks like this thread really didn't quiet any debate. Haha.

 

Game, set, match.

 

I wished we had that overrated player on our team instead of that mcgrady guy

when was the last time mcgrady played a full season in the nba? or hey, even in the cba?

 

Kobe is Kobe. A dick, but with killer instinct.

MJ would take him 1 on 1.
LeBron would be close. Kobe would probably want it more, but LeBron is on a different level than anyone else physically.
Kobe would beat T-Mac, most definitely.
Durant would be close, but I'd take Kobe in his prime.

MJ and LeBron are much better overall players than Kobe ever was though.

 

I agree with all except for bolded line
Lebron is a better athlete. Kobe in his prime is a better bball player.
However Lebron has been the best basketball player for the past 3-4 years

 

There should be a special NBA episode of Top Chef.

Kobe, LeBron, and Durant

the ingredient is Tmac

Kobe could roast Tmac
LeBron could toast him
Durant is new, so he probably sticks to just grilling him

 

Mid-life crisis is playing on a losing team in China.